Orange County sergeant accused of intentionally eavesdropping on inmate's calls

ORANGE, Calif. (KABC) -- An Orange County sheriff's sergeant once named deputy of the year is accused of intentionally listening in on calls between an inmate he'd help put in jail and the attorney fighting his case.

How did this happen? First, let's go back to late 2017.

Deep inside the Theo Lacy Facility in Orange, inmate Taylor Camu-Ferguson was having what were supposed to be privileged and confidential phone calls with his defense attorney Jon Andersen.

In audio obtained by Eyewitness News of a series of recorded calls, Andersen appears to have a sense that the confidential call wouldn't stay that way for long and is heard issuing a warning.

"Hey, let me put something on this recording: to all you little bastard sheriffs that are listening in on this conversation ... this is a conversation between an attorney and client and, uh, you guys know it and any attempt to listen to it or monitor it, you are committing a felony, and I will prosecute you're a** and make sure you're a** is prosecuted for it. So there."

Andersen spoke with ABC7 and called this case "a big deal."

"This is no different than law enforcement putting a camera in your bedroom," he said. "A call between an attorney and a client is absolutely privileged, there's no excuse for law enforcement to listen in."

Orange County Assistant Public Defender Scott Sanders, who initially uncovered the Orange County Jail informant scandal in 2014, pieced together what appeared to be a damning tale centered on Dep. Matthew LeFlore.

"Absolutely illegal," said Sanders. "It's illegal because it's a violation of the Sixth Amendment, it's illegal because there's an eavesdropping statute."

Records from a secret 2019 audit by the Orange County Sheriff's Department first came to light in a separate case LeFlore investigated and show that LeFlore repeatedly accessed recordings of phone calls from the jail to Andersen.

Plus, LeFlore's own log notes show that he listened to at least five recordings of calls between Andersen and Camu-Ferguson. Those calls were just a few of the thousands of private attorney-client conversations that were accidentally recorded in what's been described as a software glitch in 2015.

"At the time, when you looked at the records, it was clear he was listening to a bunch of calls," explained Sanders. "So instead, he writes notes to make it look like he has no idea there's an attorney on the line until the 5th call that he accesses. We now have the recordings, and the recordings are just filled with attorney-client communications. They're all about his case. There are warnings, 'Don't listen to these calls,' it's that amazing."

Andersen said he routinely gives this warning with all of his clients, even before he suspected LeFlore was possibly listening in.

"This is a telephone communication between attorney/client and any attempts to record, monitor, listen in to this conversation is a felony," Andersen is heard saying in one of the recorded phone calls.

Camu-Ferguson was arrested in 2016 in Laguna Beach for identity theft, but here's the issue.

In LeFlore's search warrant affidavit, he wrote that he saw Camu-Ferguson and another man were "moving items between two vehicles," including "two printer/scanner combos."

Andersen said video footage shows nothing of the sort.

"It looked like there was a backpack or something small that he may have been holding on to. Nothing was moving back and forth, and the second individual that investigator LeFlore claims was also moving credit card fraud equipment back and forth, never happened," said Andersen. "The other fellow got out and lit up a cigarette standing on the other side of the car."

Once Andersen got a hold of that footage, he filed a complaint against LeFlore with the sheriff's department and the Orange County District Attorney. Because of his complaints and the video, Andersen said his client got a plea deal from the district attorney, probation and a suspended sentence.

LeFlore has not responded to repeated emails and phone calls from Eyewitness News.

A few months later in August 2017, Camu-Ferguson was arrested again for alleged identity theft and once again, it was LeFlore who walked him out in handcuffs.

"When the defendant went back into custody, LeFlore starts accessing those calls, the same lawyer, and that's the only lawyer whose calls are accessed by LeFlore," said Sanders. "So, there's no chance in the world is where these weren't targeted calls."

Andersen told Eyewitness News he believes LeFlore targeted him because he exposed him with the video.

"That vengeance is what led him to search for my calls," he said.

Here's more of what LeFlore heard on those calls:

"I'm hoping he doesn't try to pull some s*** though where like I sign and then he f****** drops some bomb on me," said Camu-Ferguson.

On the witness stand last year in a separate case LeFlore investigated, he was asked under oath if he listened to those confidential calls.

"I don't remember listening to those calls, no," Leflore testified.

"My argument to that is ... these are the most unforgettable calls of your entire career," Sanders told Eyewitness News. "They're making fun of him. They're mocking him as 5-foot-tall LeFlore, 'Stop listening to these calls,' You could not listen to these calls and forget it."

LeFlore also testified that no one with the sheriff's department or the district attorney's office ever investigated him for listening to those calls, even though the logs surfaced in 2019.

No investigation. No discipline. In January 2023, LeFlore was promoted to sergeant and he now works at the Theo Lacy jail where the calls were recorded.

As of Wednesday evening, LeFlore has not returned any of Eyewitness News' calls or emails.

An OCSD spokesperson did not respond to follow up questions on Wednesday, but told Eyewitness News two weeks ago that Sgt. LeFlore was still on the job and that they are "conducting a preliminary review of the allegations that have been presented."

"We are committed to investigating, if discovered, any instances of misconduct."

Got a tip? Email ABC7 Investigative Producer Lisa.Bartley@abc.com