OAKLAND (BCN)--A former San Ramon police officer has been sentenced to  three years in prison for his involvement in a Contra Costa County law enforcement scandal.

     

Louis Lombardi, 39, was convicted in January after admitting to  four misdemeanor counts for stealing thousands of dollars in cash and  property during searches of suspects' homes.

     

He also pleaded guilty to five counts of possessing and selling  drugs and stolen firearms while he worked on the Central Contra Costa County  Narcotics Enforcement Team, or CNET.

     

U.S. District Judge Saundra B. Armstrong sentenced Lombardi to the  prison term and ordered him to pay $7,500 to the city of San Ramon during a  hearing in Oakland Friday.

     

Lombardi will serve the term in a federal prison in Oregon. His  attorney, Dirk Manoukian, had asked for Lombardi to be placed there to avoid  being incarcerated with some of the criminals he dealt with as a police  officer.

     

The judge was also expected this afternoon to receive a guilty  plea from Christopher Butler, 50, a private detective and former police  officer.

     

Along with two other former police officers, the pair was indicted  in federal court last year for a series of crimes that included stealing  cash, guns and drugs during search warrant operations.

     

Butler, a former Antioch police officer, was charged with  conspiracy; selling methamphetamine, marijuana and steroids; and possessing  methamphetamine, marijuana and steroids for sale.

 

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