10 Calif. officers charged in civil rights, corruption probe

These charges encompass offenses such as wire fraud and the deprivation of rights under the pretense of authority

August 18, 2023 10:03 AM

By Sarah Roebuck
Police1

ANTIOCH, Calif. — Nine current or former Antioch and Pittsburg police officers and one community service officer were charged in a federal corruption investigation, revealing instances where these individuals allegedly engaged in civil rights violations and fraudulent activities, KGO reports.

These actions appeared to be aimed at securing a pay raise and involved fabricating information in official reports to conceal incidents of excessive use of force, according to U.S. officials.

Ismail J. Ramsey, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California, has lodged four separate indictments detailing various charges. These charges encompass offenses such as wire fraud, the deprivation of rights under the pretense of authority, conspiring against individuals’ rights and involvement in a conspiracy to distribute anabolic steroids. Among those implicated in these charges are nine police officers and one community service officer. While all 10 individuals are named in the charges, only two of them are facing allegations in multiple indictments.

According to officials, just three of the officers are currently employed and they were not on active duty at the time.

On Thursday, arrest warrants were executed in California, Texas and Hawaii, as stated by Robert Tripp, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s San Francisco Field Office. Officials have noted that one individual remains to be apprehended.

Since the beginning of 2022, both the FBI and the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office have conducted investigations into the departments. Additionally, earlier this year, the state attorney general’s office initiated its own inquiry.

Indictment 1: College Degree Benefits Fraud

Six officers “claimed they earned college credits toward degrees. Instead, they hired people to take classes and exams for them,” Ramsey said. Ramsey stated that the officers conspired in a scheme to defraud their respective police departments, evading the need to attend classes or fulfill their obligations, KRON reports.

The first indictment named the following officers as defendants: Patrick James Berhan, Morteza Amiri, Amanda Carmella Theodosy, Samantha Peterson, Ernesto Juan Mejia-Orozco and Brauli Rodriguez Jalapa. They face charges of wire fraud and conspiracy, accused of exploiting the college credits scheme to secure pay raises.

Starting in 2019, former Pittsburg officer Berhan enlisted an individual to undertake several college courses on his behalf, as per investigators’ findings. These courses facilitated Berhan in obtaining a degree in criminal justice, leading to an increase in his salary within the Pittsburg Police Department. Following Berhan’s endorsement of the individual’s “services” for fraudulent academic work, five additional officers became involved in the scheme, according to investigators.

Indictment 2: Steroid drug dealing

The second indictment implicated two Antioch police officers: Daniel James Harris and Devon Christopher Wenger. This pair faces charges encompassing conspiracy to distribute anabolic steroids, possession with the intention to distribute steroids and the act of destroying evidence.

Indictment 3: Obstruction of a Federal Investigation

Timothy Allen Manly Williams, an Antioch police officer, has been accused of several charges, including destruction of evidence, obstruction, falsification of records and the deprivation of rights under the guise of authority.

On May 6, 2021, during his presence at a crime scene, Williams observed another officer releasing a police dog to apprehend a suspect. During the aftermath of the K-9 incident, Williams identified a witness who was using a cellphone to record a video. As per the indictment, Williams is alleged to have confiscated the witness’ phone and subsequently destroyed it. In a distinct occurrence, Williams is accused of providing advance information to the subject of a wiretap investigation.

Indictment 4: Deprivation of Rights

Three Antioch officers are alleged to have engaged in a series of civil rights violations. According to Ramsey, the defendants openly discussed their unlawful use of force in text messages.

The officers are accused of various actions, including collecting souvenirs from shooting scenes, sending racist text messages, excessively deploying K-9 units for attacking suspects, employing 40mm launchers as a form of “punishment” and deliberately disabling their body-worn cameras.

“The officers had no interest in de-escalating to avoid violence. They collected as mementos spent ammunition from their attacks on the people of Antioch. They tried to escape scrutiny by failing to submit truthful reports or use their body-worn cameras. The damage done to public trust cannot easily be calculated,” Ramsey said during a news conference.

The fourth indictment implicated three Antioch police officers: Eric Allen Rombough, Morteza Amiri and Devon Christopher Wenger. This group faces charges that include conspiracy against rights, deprivation of rights under the guise of authority, destruction of evidence and falsification of records.