In March, Los Angeles Couty undersheriff Paul Tanaka resigned from his position amid claims that he allowed for there to be a culture of jailhouse abuse under his watch. Now Tanaka is taking aim at his boss, accusing Sheriff Lee Baca of poor leadership.

Though it was initially reported that Tanaka had resigned, in late March reports came out that he had actually been asked to step down by Baca. That move stunned Baca's trusted right-hand man.

From that point, it has only gotten uglier. Tanaka is now coming forward and contending that the mismanagement of the Los Angeles prison system is largely to blame on Baca, who he accuses of providing erratic, confused, and highly political leadership.

Tanaka goes on to say that Baca often practiced nepotism in assigning positions and hiring people, and therefore the supervisory staff in the prisons was largely irresponsible with their jobs. He says that his reputation became tarnished once he started holding lazy supervisors accountable.

"They're not used to that," said Tanaka, who will remain on the county payroll as undersheriff until August. "In this organization, they're used to the higher you go, the less responsibility."

Tanaka blames Baca for the faulty Sheriff's Department, noting that it is a "house of cards that's on the verge of crumbling." He has also accused the Sheriff of paying little attention to the affairs of his system, and instead going on international adventures that had little to do with his job.

For now, Sheriff Baca is keeping quiet over the details put forth by Tanaka, and has only issued a statement refuting in general everything that the former undersheriff has claimed.

"The sheriff finds it very sad that his former undersheriff has raised these false charges motivated apparently by his personal disappointment and ambition. None of these allegations were made while he served as undersheriff. He raises them only now as he contemplates a run for sheriff," said Baca's spokesman.