Where Is Damacio Diaz Now? He's Featured in 'Killing County' on Hulu
Published Jan. 25 2023, 4:56 p.m. ET
The latest true crime docuseries from ABC News Studios is Killing County, which arrives on Hulu on Feb. 3. The docuseries, which is being executive produced by Colin Kaepernick, follows a tale of corruption in a California police department. The primary subject of the documentary is the victim, Jorge Ramirez, Jr. The series explores how his family was affected by the corruption, but it also focuses on a former police detective named Damacio Diaz.
Damacio Diaz was a Bakersfield police detective who was sentenced to five years in prison in October 2016 for stealing drugs to put back onto the street. Former detective Patrick Mara was also implicated in the same crime. Where are Damacio and Patrick now? Here's what we know.
Where is Damacio Diaz now?
As a detective in Bakersfield, Calif., Damacio Diaz rose to national attention after the film McFarland, USA, was released in 2015. The film tells a fictionalized version of the McFarland High School cross-country team's 1987 race to victory. Diaz was one of the real-life members of the team. His career as a detective was relatively uneventful until Jorge Ramirez, Jr. was shot by Bakersfield police in September 2013.
According to ABC 23, Ramirez was shot at a parking lot near a hotel while working as an off-the-books police informant for the Bakersfield Police Department, attempting to gain information on felon Justin Harger.
BPD said that Ramirez was with Harger when the police arrived, and Harger began firing at the officers, prompting the officers to fire back.
As it turns out, Ramirez was an informant on the behest of Damacio Diaz and Patrick Mara.
The California Department of Justice notes that Damacio Diaz and Patrick Mara conspired with businessman Noel Carter, where they "deliberately failed to submit the seized drugs into the BPD evidence room, and instead provided the stolen narcotics to Carter so Carter could sell those narcotics for profit."
Following Diaz and Mara's indictment in October 2016, Damacio was released from a halfway house in Sacramento in May 2020, per KGET. He was staying at the halfway house after serving his time.
Where is Patrick Mara now?
Similar to Diaz, Mara pled guilty to stealing narcotics such as methamphetamine and marijuana to give to Noel Carter for profit. After serving his sentence, Mara was sent to a halfway house in Long Beach before ultimately being released in April 2020.
Their businessman associate, Noel Carter, was sentenced to seven years and five months in prison for his role in re-distributing the drugs, as well as defrauding customers to whom he leased space by embezzling checks into his personal bank account. KGET says he was also ordered to pay $70,513 in restitution as a result and $286,251 in proceeds from drug trafficking.
Damacio Diaz is interviewed on camera in Killing County, which premieres on Feb. 3, 2023, on Hulu.