Jail Informant Gets 5-Year Sentence

Longtime jailhouse informant Leslie White was sentenced to five years and eight months in state prison Wednesday after pleading guilty to a purse snatching and failing to appear in court.

White, 31, gained notoriety late last year when he triggered a law enforcement review of jailhouse informant policies in Los Angeles by demonstrating for authorities that he could pass off as authentic a murder confession from a defendant he had never met.

White’s revelations prompted an on-going investigation by the county grand jury into the use of jailhouse informants by the district attorney’s office.

White’s trial for snatching a woman’s purse that contained $8 on Wilshire Boulevard in March, 1988, was scheduled to begin Wednesday, but he instead pleaded guilty to one count each of grand theft and failing to appear for sentencing. He also admitted having two convictions for kidnaping and robbery.

In pleading guilty, White agreed to be sentenced to five years and eight months in state prison, Deputy Dist. Atty. Larry Longo said. He was sentenced by Superior Court Judge Gary Klausner.