After Sentencing of Ex-Rohnert Park Cops Who Stole Marijuana, Questions Still Remain
Former Bay Area Officers Sentenced in Scheme to Steal Weed During Traffic Stops
Ex-Rohnert Park Officer Found Guilty in Highway 101 Marijuana Seizure Scheme
Exclusive: Ex-Rohnert Park Cop Faces Few Consequences for Illegal Cannabis Grow
Ex-Rohnert Park Cops Indicted on Federal Extortion, Conspiracy Charges Linked to Marijuana Seizures
Former Rohnert Park Cops Accused of ‘Highway Robbery’ Face Federal Charges
'Slammed': Many California Casinos Are Still Open, and Some Workers Are Worried
Rohnert Park Payouts Set to Top $1.8 Million Over Marijuana and Cash Seizures
Rohnert Park to Settle One Lawsuit Over Illegal Pot Seizures as 5 More Plaintiffs Sue
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"slug": "former-rohnert-park-officers-who-stole-marijuana-face-federal-sentencing",
"title": "After Sentencing of Ex-Rohnert Park Cops Who Stole Marijuana, Questions Still Remain",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12070600/former-bay-area-officers-sentenced-in-scheme-to-steal-weed-during-traffic-stops\">federal sentencing\u003c/a> Wednesday of t\u003c/span>wo former \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/rohnert-park\">Rohnert Park\u003c/a> police officers \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">involved in \u003c/span>a scheme to steal and resell marijuana \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">marked the end of a yearslong legal battle, but it closes only p\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">art of a scandal that exposed broader failures in Northern California law enforcement during the final years of marijuana prohibition\u003c/span>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KQED \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11673412/highway-robbery-drivers-allege-rohnert-park-police-illegally-seized-cannabis-cash\">first reported in 2018\u003c/a> on allegations from drivers who said Rohnert Park officers had stolen marijuana from them during traffic stops well outside city limits. In 2020, the city paid out more than \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11802870/rohnert-park-payouts-set-to-top-1-8-million-over-\">$1.8 million\u003c/a> to settle lawsuits filed by the victims of these officers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2021, a federal \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11889861/ex-rohnert-park-cops-indicted-on-federal-extortion-conspiracy-charges-linked-to-marijuana-seizures\">grand jury indicted \u003c/a>the two officers. Tatum pleaded guilty shortly thereafter and agreed to cooperate with federal prosecutors. Huffaker fought the charges, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12046733/trial-begins-for-ex-rohnert-park-officer-accused-of-seizing-marijuana-from-drivers\">but was found guilty by a jury last summer\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tatum spent three days on the witness stand describing how he used his role leading the department’s interdiction team to steal hundreds of pounds of cannabis during traffic stops between 2014 and 2018, bringing Huffaker into the scheme in late 2017.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But trial testimony, public records and interviews revealed questions about how supervisors, investigators and outside agencies failed to stop — or fully investigate — officers who allegedly robbed drivers along Highway 101.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11802872\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11802872 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/02/Rohnert-Park-Jacy-Tatum-Questionable-Marijaua-Cash-Seizures-Highway-101.jpg\" alt=\"Rear-view mirror along Highway 101 near Cloverdale, California.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/02/Rohnert-Park-Jacy-Tatum-Questionable-Marijaua-Cash-Seizures-Highway-101.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/02/Rohnert-Park-Jacy-Tatum-Questionable-Marijaua-Cash-Seizures-Highway-101-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/02/Rohnert-Park-Jacy-Tatum-Questionable-Marijaua-Cash-Seizures-Highway-101-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/02/Rohnert-Park-Jacy-Tatum-Questionable-Marijaua-Cash-Seizures-Highway-101-1020x680.jpg 1020w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Former Sgt. Brendon Jacy Tatum and former officer Joseph Huffaker face sentencing in a federal cannabis corruption case involving stolen marijuana, fake reports, illegal Highway 101 traffic stops and questions about FBI and law enforcement oversight in Northern California. \u003ccite>(Adam Grossberg/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It kind of bewilders me why there was only two officers that were prosecuted,” said Texas resident Zeke Flatten, a former undercover officer, private investigator and filmmaker.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Flatten was among the first people to report being robbed by officers, but eight years later, no one has been prosecuted in his case.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Who stole from Zeke Flatten?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>On Dec. 5, 2017, Flatten said he was driving south on Highway 101 in Mendocino County in a rented Kia when he was pulled over by an unmarked SUV. Two white men wearing green tactical pants and black vests marked “police” approached him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Immediately, things were not feeling right to me,” said Flatten, who honed his intuition working undercover in the 1990s. He said he began noticing other details: the officers were not wearing badges, name tags or insignia that identified the department they worked for.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The men asked for his license and the rental agreement, but did not explain why they had stopped him. In interviews with KQED, Flatten said they asked him to get out of the vehicle, patted him down and asked if there were any “money, guns or drugs” in the car.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Flatten said he told them he had a medical marijuana license.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11706933\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11706933 size-medium\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/11/RS33972_10643-qut-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"Zeke Flatten in San Francisco on Aug. 16.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/11/RS33972_10643-qut-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/11/RS33972_10643-qut-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/11/RS33972_10643-qut-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/11/RS33972_10643-qut-1200x900.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/11/RS33972_10643-qut.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Zeke Flatten in San Francisco on Aug. 16, 2018 \u003ccite>(Sukey Lewis/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“He [the officer] immediately opened the hatchback of the vehicle, went for a box that I had in the back,” Flatten said. The officers found three pounds of marijuana that Flatten said he was taking to Santa Rosa for lab testing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The men identified themselves as agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, according to Flatten.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“ Marijuana is taking over in California, like cigarettes. You may get a letter from Washington,” Flatten recalled one of the officers saying as they handed him back his license and rental agreement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They kept the cannabis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“ I knew at that moment that I had been robbed,” Flatten said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Flatten filed complaints with the ATF, the FBI and Mendocino County authorities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FBI Special Agent Jeremy Heinrich testified at Huffaker’s trial that he received Flatten’s complaint on Dec. 11, 2017, and contacted local law enforcement agencies in Mendocino County.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those calls went nowhere, Heinrich testified, and he closed the case eight days later.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even now, the FBI has not identified or arrested the men who stopped Flatten. Flatten said he is certain that Tatum was not involved because both men who stopped him were white and Tatum is Black. Flatten believes Huffaker was involved, though Huffaker has denied it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The U.S. Department of Justice declined to answer questions about the case and denied KQED’s Freedom of Information Act request for documents related to the timeline of their investigation, citing privacy exemptions. KQED appealed the denial.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Flatten’s complaint, however, would become key in exposing the scheme.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Barron Lutz\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>About two weeks after Flatten was robbed, Humboldt County resident Barron Lutz was also driving south on Highway 101 when he was pulled over by two officers in an unmarked black SUV who identified themselves as ATF agents. They seized 23 pounds of cannabis from Lutz and refused to provide an inventory receipt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I wasn’t sure if I was being robbed or I was being arrested,” Lutz said on the stand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The stop was nearly identical to Flatten’s, with one key difference: California Highway Patrol officers stopped to ask if the officers needed assistance. The CHP’s Scott Baker testified that he recognized Tatum from working with him on a joint narcotics operation in Mendocino County.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12047329\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12047329\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/JHuffakerTrial9.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1305\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/JHuffakerTrial9.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/JHuffakerTrial9-160x104.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/JHuffakerTrial9-1536x1002.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Barron Lutz, a victim, takes the stand during the criminal trial of former Rohnert Park police officer Joseph Huffaker in San Francisco federal court on Monday, July 7, 2025. \u003ccite>(Vicki Behringer for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Lutz contacted the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office the next day, asking whether it had a record of the stop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They said they would get back to me, and nobody ever got back to me,” Lutz testified.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Tatum’s testimony, a Mendocino County major crimes sergeant called him later that day about a civilian complaint.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He talked to CHP, and CHP remembered seeing Joe and I up there,” Tatum testified.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rohnert Park is in Sonoma County, about an hour south of where Lutz was pulled over. Tatum told the sergeant the stop was legitimate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Afterward, Tatum said, he began trying to cover his tracks: obtaining an incident number and booking a cardboard box of loose marijuana buds into evidence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12082507\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1797px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12082507\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/TatumHuffakerPg11.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1797\" height=\"1383\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/TatumHuffakerPg11.jpg 1797w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/TatumHuffakerPg11-160x123.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/TatumHuffakerPg11-1536x1182.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1797px) 100vw, 1797px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Two former Rohnert Park police officers, Joseph Huffaker and Jacy Tatum, are set to be sentenced in federal court after a yearslong legal battle over a scheme to steal and resell marijuana seized during traffic stops along Highway 101. This evidence photo from a court filing shows a cardboard box filled with loose marijuana buds. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The 23 pounds of cannabis he and Huffaker took from Lutz, including designer strains such as Agent Orange and Serendipity, had already been handed off to Tatum’s “broker” and friend, Billy Timmins. Tatum said Timmins paid about $27,000 for the stolen marijuana, which the officers split and spent on high-end hunting rifles, scopes and ammunition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Feb. 13, 2018, Tatum received a call from Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He called me for a favor,” Tatum testified. “He [Allman] was getting a lot of media press and was pissed off because his department was getting blamed for our traffic stop.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The coverage Allman told Tatum about appeared on the community news site \u003ca href=\"https://kymkemp.com/\">\u003cem>Redheaded Blackbelt\u003c/em>\u003c/a>. On Feb. 11, 2018, the site’s owner, Kym Kemp, published \u003ca href=\"https://kymkemp.com/2018/02/11/former-undercover-officer-involved-in-developing-cannabis-products-accuses-hopland-police-chief-of-theft-corruption-and-civil-rights-violations/\">articles\u003c/a> detailing Flatten’s \u003ca href=\"https://kymkemp.com/2018/02/11/former-undercover-officer-involved-in-developing-cannabis-products-accuses-hopland-police-chief-of-theft-corruption-and-civil-rights-violations/\">allegations\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Flatten first called her, she had trouble believing his story.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“To be honest, if he hadn’t been someone that knew people I knew, which is the way Southern Humboldt works, I probably would not have taken him seriously,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the deeper she dug into Flatten’s allegations, the more credible his complaints appeared. And the story struck a nerve among residents who had long suspected law enforcement abuses during marijuana prohibition, Kemp said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>False reports\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Tatum testified that after receiving that call from the sheriff, he contacted Huffaker, and together, they drafted a \u003ca href=\"https://journaliststudio.google.com/pinpoint/document-view?collection=b770269f56edcc0b&p=1&docid=fd386e41b0df5f08_b770269f56edcc0b&utm_source=highlight_deep_link&tab=documents&dapvm=1&highlight=bbe0056d3298ee94\">press release\u003c/a> taking responsibility for the stop. The release referenced an unspecified stop “in December,” and included the same case number tied to the marijuana Tatum had booked into evidence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We were both scared and thought that we’d got away with this,” Tatum testified. “But here we are, two months later, having to deal with it again.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12047327\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12047327 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/JHuffakerTrial7.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1388\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/JHuffakerTrial7.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/JHuffakerTrial7-160x111.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/JHuffakerTrial7-1536x1066.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Former Rohnert Park Police Sgt. Brendon “Jacy” Tatum, who worked with Joseph Huffaker, takes the stand in San Francisco federal court on Monday, July 7, 2025. \u003ccite>(Vicki Behringer for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Once the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office received the press release, officials forwarded it to the FBI and Kemp.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Special Agent Heinrich then asked Tatum for the incident report connected to Flatten’s complaint.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But there was no report. Tatum testified that he and Huffaker did not know the driver’s name or the exact stop date. Heinrich, however, had shared those details from the complaint he had received: Zeke Flatten on Dec. 5, 2017.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We just went with that date based upon what the FBI guy — the date that the FBI guy gave us,” Tatum said.[aside postID=news_11673412 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/RS31344_IMG_3493-qut-672x372.jpg']But in writing the report, Tatum said he and Huffaker drew on the details they could remember for the illegal stop of Lutz, not realizing they were conflating two different stops.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After receiving the report, Heinrich took no further action, despite contradictions with Flatten’s complaint. The FBI declined to answer questions about Heinrich’s handling of the case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kemp, however, noticed discrepancies in the report after obtaining it through a public records request, including the date, vehicle description, the amount of cannabis seized and the presence of the CHP officer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In April 2018, she \u003ca href=\"https://kymkemp.com/2018/04/26/rohnert-park-police-officers-being-investigated-following-two-incidents-where-humboldt-county-cannabis-was-seized-under-suspicious-circumstances/\">published another story\u003c/a>, showing that Flatten’s stop and the stop described in the report were different incidents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By then, Rohnert Park officials had realized they had a problem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There were numerous things in the press release that gave me heartburn,” former Police Chief Brian Masterson testified.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He placed Huffaker and Tatum on administrative leave and hired an outside investigator.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A pattern emerges\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In the days after Kemp’s reporting, KQED received a tip from another driver who said they had also been robbed by Tatum.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In June, KQED, in partnership with Kemp and the \u003cem>North Coast Journal,\u003c/em> published a joint \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11673412/highway-robbery-drivers-allege-rohnert-park-police-illegally-seized-cannabis-cash\">investigation\u003c/a> examining allegations from eight drivers and the role asset forfeiture played in funding the department.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12047325\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12047325\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/JHuffakerTrial5.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1499\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/JHuffakerTrial5.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/JHuffakerTrial5-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/JHuffakerTrial5-1536x1151.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Brian Masterson, former chief of the Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety, takes the stand as a witness for the prosecution during the criminal trial of former Rohnert Park police officer Joseph Huffaker in San Francisco federal court on Monday, July 7, 2025. \u003ccite>(Vicki Behringer for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Within weeks, Tatum left the Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety. The city moved to fire Huffaker, but he fought back, ultimately \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11735983/probe-into-rohnert-park-cannabis-and-cash-seizures-will-stay-secret-despite-transparency-law#:~:text=Rohnert%20Park%20struck%20a%20deal%20with%20an,way%20of%20'guaranteeing%20he%20is%20never%20reinstated\">securing a $75,000 payout to resign\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In follow-up stories, KQED uncovered \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11678122/documentation-missing-for-at-least-800-pounds-of-marijuana-seized-by-rohnert-park-police\">missing destruction orders\u003c/a> for hundreds of pounds of seized cannabis, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11768671/rohnert-park-settles-one-lawsuit-over-illegal-pot-seizures-5-more-plaintiffs-sue\">followed the lawsuits\u003c/a> that began to mount.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At trial, Tatum testified that officers initially used an official foundry based in San Joaquin to incinerate the excess cannabis. But sometime around 2015, they changed that policy. Instead, they began taking the hundreds of pounds of marijuana to a local farm where they would bury it in the ground.[aside postID=news_12046733 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/JHuffakerTrial6.jpg']“We took pictures of Joe on the backhoe digging the holes for the marijuana,” Tatum said, referring to Huffaker.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At some point, Tatum testified, he began taking the marijuana home to sell instead of burying it. Investigators never searched the farm, according to testimony from a special agent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The more drivers I stopped, or we stopped, the more chances we had to steal marijuana,” he testified.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tatum testified that he initially sold the weed through his wife’s uncle Joe Porcaro, splitting the proceeds before the two had a falling out. Porcaro strongly denied any involvement, calling Tatum an “unremorseful, pathological liar” in an email to KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Porcaro said he spoke with the FBI, but was never questioned about Tatum’s allegations. Federal prosecutors declined to answer questions about how they verified Tatum’s testimony or why Porcaro was never pursued as a potential accomplice.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘Robin Hood’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Sometime in 2016, Tatum said he began selling marijuana through his childhood friend Billy Timmins, who later testified against Huffaker in exchange for immunity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Timmins said he initially believed Tatum was growing the marijuana himself, but later realized the volume was too large.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I knew that it wasn’t out of his garage,” Timmins testified. Tatum told him he was “getting it off the highway.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12046904\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12046904\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/250702-JOSEPHHUFFAKERTRIAL-10-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/250702-JOSEPHHUFFAKERTRIAL-10-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/250702-JOSEPHHUFFAKERTRIAL-10-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/250702-JOSEPHHUFFAKERTRIAL-10-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Police vehicles are parked in a lot at the Rohnert Park Police Station in Rohnert Park on July 2, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Tatum said he gave drivers an ultimatum: disclaim ownership of the cannabis or face arrest. If drivers denied ownership, he could classify it as found property.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For several years, Tatum testified, the scheme operated without detection.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was almost like a Robin Hood story,” Timmins testified. “These guys are scumbags, and I’m going to take their weed and that’s that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2017, with legalization approaching under Proposition 64, the chief shut down the interdiction team.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Huffaker\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Tatum testified that he and Huffaker became close friends. Their wives got along, and they spent time together after work. Tatum said that in late 2017, over drinks, they joked about the potential profits they could make from seizing marijuana.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We decided that we’d tell people we were the ATF,” Tatum testified. “And not draw attention to the DEA or somebody locally they could complain to or that it could get back to.” Tatum did not tell Huffaker that he had already been stealing for years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In December 2017, Tatum said the pair carried out several illegal stops.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12047324\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12047324\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/JHuffakerTrial4.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/JHuffakerTrial4.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/JHuffakerTrial4-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/JHuffakerTrial4-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Former Rohnert Park police officer Joseph Huffaker (right) during his trial in San Francisco federal court on Monday, July 7, 2025. \u003ccite>(Vicki Behringer for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Phone records place Tatum and Huffaker in the Hopland area on Dec. 6. Tatum testified they were conducting what he called “illegal interdiction,” stopping drivers and seizing cannabis. He said they met Timmins off Highway 101 near the Commisky exit, where they transferred about eight large trash bags full of marijuana into Timmins’ car so the officers could continue making stops.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In late 2023, Tatum told Timmins, his friend of more than three decades, that he planned to implicate him with the FBI. Timmins said he was furious that Tatum had dragged him into his “mess.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both men said that was the last time they spoke.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shortly before trial, Timmins agreed to cooperate with federal prosecutors.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety today\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>At least six of the peace officers who either worked alongside Tatum and Huffaker or supervised interdiction operations remain in law enforcement, including five with the Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety and one with the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, incident reports and court filings show that when Tatum broke departmental policies in front of them — giving drivers ultimatums, refusing to give property receipts and issuing citations for felonies — they did not stop him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At trial, Huffaker’s attorney asked Tatum whether supervisors ever reviewed body camera footage that captured seizures of large amounts of marijuana and cash. Tatum said they did not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12046905\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12046905\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/250702-JOSEPHHUFFAKERTRIAL-11-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/250702-JOSEPHHUFFAKERTRIAL-11-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/250702-JOSEPHHUFFAKERTRIAL-11-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/250702-JOSEPHHUFFAKERTRIAL-11-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Police vehicles are parked in a lot at the Rohnert Park Police Station in Rohnert Park on July 2, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Tim Mattos, who became chief of the Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety after the scandal, said in a recent interview that the officers were cleared by internal investigations and the FBI.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mattos said the department has since expanded oversight, implemented a new evidence auditing system, added GPS tracking to vehicles and changed procedures for destroying contraband.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“ Let’s not even let this creep into people’s mind because they’re just not gonna be able to do it,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mattos said the department has spent years “living under this cloud” and hopes the sentencing will allow the city to move forward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kemp said the case carried significance for cannabis growers who long feared driving their harvest through “the gauntlet” along Highway 101. But there still has not been a full reckoning with police abuses during prohibition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It wasn’t just those two officers,” Kemp said. “And it wasn’t just Rohnert Park. It was spread throughout the Emerald Triangle. And how bad was it? We may never know.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Flatten is still waiting for justice. He believes that at least one of the men who robbed him remains in law enforcement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Former Rohnert Park police officers Brendon Jacy Tatum and Joseph Huffaker were sentenced to prison in a federal cannabis corruption case involving stolen marijuana, fake reports, illegal Highway 101 traffic stops and questions about FBI and law enforcement oversight in Northern California.",
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"title": "After Sentencing of Ex-Rohnert Park Cops Who Stole Marijuana, Questions Still Remain | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12070600/former-bay-area-officers-sentenced-in-scheme-to-steal-weed-during-traffic-stops\">federal sentencing\u003c/a> Wednesday of t\u003c/span>wo former \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/rohnert-park\">Rohnert Park\u003c/a> police officers \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">involved in \u003c/span>a scheme to steal and resell marijuana \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">marked the end of a yearslong legal battle, but it closes only p\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">art of a scandal that exposed broader failures in Northern California law enforcement during the final years of marijuana prohibition\u003c/span>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KQED \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11673412/highway-robbery-drivers-allege-rohnert-park-police-illegally-seized-cannabis-cash\">first reported in 2018\u003c/a> on allegations from drivers who said Rohnert Park officers had stolen marijuana from them during traffic stops well outside city limits. In 2020, the city paid out more than \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11802870/rohnert-park-payouts-set-to-top-1-8-million-over-\">$1.8 million\u003c/a> to settle lawsuits filed by the victims of these officers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2021, a federal \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11889861/ex-rohnert-park-cops-indicted-on-federal-extortion-conspiracy-charges-linked-to-marijuana-seizures\">grand jury indicted \u003c/a>the two officers. Tatum pleaded guilty shortly thereafter and agreed to cooperate with federal prosecutors. Huffaker fought the charges, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12046733/trial-begins-for-ex-rohnert-park-officer-accused-of-seizing-marijuana-from-drivers\">but was found guilty by a jury last summer\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tatum spent three days on the witness stand describing how he used his role leading the department’s interdiction team to steal hundreds of pounds of cannabis during traffic stops between 2014 and 2018, bringing Huffaker into the scheme in late 2017.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But trial testimony, public records and interviews revealed questions about how supervisors, investigators and outside agencies failed to stop — or fully investigate — officers who allegedly robbed drivers along Highway 101.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11802872\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11802872 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/02/Rohnert-Park-Jacy-Tatum-Questionable-Marijaua-Cash-Seizures-Highway-101.jpg\" alt=\"Rear-view mirror along Highway 101 near Cloverdale, California.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/02/Rohnert-Park-Jacy-Tatum-Questionable-Marijaua-Cash-Seizures-Highway-101.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/02/Rohnert-Park-Jacy-Tatum-Questionable-Marijaua-Cash-Seizures-Highway-101-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/02/Rohnert-Park-Jacy-Tatum-Questionable-Marijaua-Cash-Seizures-Highway-101-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/02/Rohnert-Park-Jacy-Tatum-Questionable-Marijaua-Cash-Seizures-Highway-101-1020x680.jpg 1020w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Former Sgt. Brendon Jacy Tatum and former officer Joseph Huffaker face sentencing in a federal cannabis corruption case involving stolen marijuana, fake reports, illegal Highway 101 traffic stops and questions about FBI and law enforcement oversight in Northern California. \u003ccite>(Adam Grossberg/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It kind of bewilders me why there was only two officers that were prosecuted,” said Texas resident Zeke Flatten, a former undercover officer, private investigator and filmmaker.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Flatten was among the first people to report being robbed by officers, but eight years later, no one has been prosecuted in his case.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Who stole from Zeke Flatten?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>On Dec. 5, 2017, Flatten said he was driving south on Highway 101 in Mendocino County in a rented Kia when he was pulled over by an unmarked SUV. Two white men wearing green tactical pants and black vests marked “police” approached him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Immediately, things were not feeling right to me,” said Flatten, who honed his intuition working undercover in the 1990s. He said he began noticing other details: the officers were not wearing badges, name tags or insignia that identified the department they worked for.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The men asked for his license and the rental agreement, but did not explain why they had stopped him. In interviews with KQED, Flatten said they asked him to get out of the vehicle, patted him down and asked if there were any “money, guns or drugs” in the car.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Flatten said he told them he had a medical marijuana license.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11706933\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11706933 size-medium\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/11/RS33972_10643-qut-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"Zeke Flatten in San Francisco on Aug. 16.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/11/RS33972_10643-qut-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/11/RS33972_10643-qut-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/11/RS33972_10643-qut-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/11/RS33972_10643-qut-1200x900.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/11/RS33972_10643-qut.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Zeke Flatten in San Francisco on Aug. 16, 2018 \u003ccite>(Sukey Lewis/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“He [the officer] immediately opened the hatchback of the vehicle, went for a box that I had in the back,” Flatten said. The officers found three pounds of marijuana that Flatten said he was taking to Santa Rosa for lab testing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The men identified themselves as agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, according to Flatten.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“ Marijuana is taking over in California, like cigarettes. You may get a letter from Washington,” Flatten recalled one of the officers saying as they handed him back his license and rental agreement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They kept the cannabis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“ I knew at that moment that I had been robbed,” Flatten said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Flatten filed complaints with the ATF, the FBI and Mendocino County authorities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FBI Special Agent Jeremy Heinrich testified at Huffaker’s trial that he received Flatten’s complaint on Dec. 11, 2017, and contacted local law enforcement agencies in Mendocino County.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those calls went nowhere, Heinrich testified, and he closed the case eight days later.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even now, the FBI has not identified or arrested the men who stopped Flatten. Flatten said he is certain that Tatum was not involved because both men who stopped him were white and Tatum is Black. Flatten believes Huffaker was involved, though Huffaker has denied it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The U.S. Department of Justice declined to answer questions about the case and denied KQED’s Freedom of Information Act request for documents related to the timeline of their investigation, citing privacy exemptions. KQED appealed the denial.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Flatten’s complaint, however, would become key in exposing the scheme.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Barron Lutz\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>About two weeks after Flatten was robbed, Humboldt County resident Barron Lutz was also driving south on Highway 101 when he was pulled over by two officers in an unmarked black SUV who identified themselves as ATF agents. They seized 23 pounds of cannabis from Lutz and refused to provide an inventory receipt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I wasn’t sure if I was being robbed or I was being arrested,” Lutz said on the stand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The stop was nearly identical to Flatten’s, with one key difference: California Highway Patrol officers stopped to ask if the officers needed assistance. The CHP’s Scott Baker testified that he recognized Tatum from working with him on a joint narcotics operation in Mendocino County.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12047329\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12047329\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/JHuffakerTrial9.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1305\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/JHuffakerTrial9.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/JHuffakerTrial9-160x104.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/JHuffakerTrial9-1536x1002.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Barron Lutz, a victim, takes the stand during the criminal trial of former Rohnert Park police officer Joseph Huffaker in San Francisco federal court on Monday, July 7, 2025. \u003ccite>(Vicki Behringer for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Lutz contacted the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office the next day, asking whether it had a record of the stop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They said they would get back to me, and nobody ever got back to me,” Lutz testified.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Tatum’s testimony, a Mendocino County major crimes sergeant called him later that day about a civilian complaint.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He talked to CHP, and CHP remembered seeing Joe and I up there,” Tatum testified.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rohnert Park is in Sonoma County, about an hour south of where Lutz was pulled over. Tatum told the sergeant the stop was legitimate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Afterward, Tatum said, he began trying to cover his tracks: obtaining an incident number and booking a cardboard box of loose marijuana buds into evidence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12082507\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1797px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12082507\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/TatumHuffakerPg11.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1797\" height=\"1383\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/TatumHuffakerPg11.jpg 1797w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/TatumHuffakerPg11-160x123.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/TatumHuffakerPg11-1536x1182.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1797px) 100vw, 1797px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Two former Rohnert Park police officers, Joseph Huffaker and Jacy Tatum, are set to be sentenced in federal court after a yearslong legal battle over a scheme to steal and resell marijuana seized during traffic stops along Highway 101. This evidence photo from a court filing shows a cardboard box filled with loose marijuana buds. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The 23 pounds of cannabis he and Huffaker took from Lutz, including designer strains such as Agent Orange and Serendipity, had already been handed off to Tatum’s “broker” and friend, Billy Timmins. Tatum said Timmins paid about $27,000 for the stolen marijuana, which the officers split and spent on high-end hunting rifles, scopes and ammunition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Feb. 13, 2018, Tatum received a call from Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He called me for a favor,” Tatum testified. “He [Allman] was getting a lot of media press and was pissed off because his department was getting blamed for our traffic stop.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The coverage Allman told Tatum about appeared on the community news site \u003ca href=\"https://kymkemp.com/\">\u003cem>Redheaded Blackbelt\u003c/em>\u003c/a>. On Feb. 11, 2018, the site’s owner, Kym Kemp, published \u003ca href=\"https://kymkemp.com/2018/02/11/former-undercover-officer-involved-in-developing-cannabis-products-accuses-hopland-police-chief-of-theft-corruption-and-civil-rights-violations/\">articles\u003c/a> detailing Flatten’s \u003ca href=\"https://kymkemp.com/2018/02/11/former-undercover-officer-involved-in-developing-cannabis-products-accuses-hopland-police-chief-of-theft-corruption-and-civil-rights-violations/\">allegations\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Flatten first called her, she had trouble believing his story.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“To be honest, if he hadn’t been someone that knew people I knew, which is the way Southern Humboldt works, I probably would not have taken him seriously,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the deeper she dug into Flatten’s allegations, the more credible his complaints appeared. And the story struck a nerve among residents who had long suspected law enforcement abuses during marijuana prohibition, Kemp said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>False reports\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Tatum testified that after receiving that call from the sheriff, he contacted Huffaker, and together, they drafted a \u003ca href=\"https://journaliststudio.google.com/pinpoint/document-view?collection=b770269f56edcc0b&p=1&docid=fd386e41b0df5f08_b770269f56edcc0b&utm_source=highlight_deep_link&tab=documents&dapvm=1&highlight=bbe0056d3298ee94\">press release\u003c/a> taking responsibility for the stop. The release referenced an unspecified stop “in December,” and included the same case number tied to the marijuana Tatum had booked into evidence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We were both scared and thought that we’d got away with this,” Tatum testified. “But here we are, two months later, having to deal with it again.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12047327\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12047327 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/JHuffakerTrial7.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1388\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/JHuffakerTrial7.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/JHuffakerTrial7-160x111.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/JHuffakerTrial7-1536x1066.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Former Rohnert Park Police Sgt. Brendon “Jacy” Tatum, who worked with Joseph Huffaker, takes the stand in San Francisco federal court on Monday, July 7, 2025. \u003ccite>(Vicki Behringer for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Once the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office received the press release, officials forwarded it to the FBI and Kemp.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Special Agent Heinrich then asked Tatum for the incident report connected to Flatten’s complaint.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But there was no report. Tatum testified that he and Huffaker did not know the driver’s name or the exact stop date. Heinrich, however, had shared those details from the complaint he had received: Zeke Flatten on Dec. 5, 2017.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We just went with that date based upon what the FBI guy — the date that the FBI guy gave us,” Tatum said.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>But in writing the report, Tatum said he and Huffaker drew on the details they could remember for the illegal stop of Lutz, not realizing they were conflating two different stops.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After receiving the report, Heinrich took no further action, despite contradictions with Flatten’s complaint. The FBI declined to answer questions about Heinrich’s handling of the case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kemp, however, noticed discrepancies in the report after obtaining it through a public records request, including the date, vehicle description, the amount of cannabis seized and the presence of the CHP officer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In April 2018, she \u003ca href=\"https://kymkemp.com/2018/04/26/rohnert-park-police-officers-being-investigated-following-two-incidents-where-humboldt-county-cannabis-was-seized-under-suspicious-circumstances/\">published another story\u003c/a>, showing that Flatten’s stop and the stop described in the report were different incidents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By then, Rohnert Park officials had realized they had a problem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There were numerous things in the press release that gave me heartburn,” former Police Chief Brian Masterson testified.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He placed Huffaker and Tatum on administrative leave and hired an outside investigator.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A pattern emerges\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In the days after Kemp’s reporting, KQED received a tip from another driver who said they had also been robbed by Tatum.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In June, KQED, in partnership with Kemp and the \u003cem>North Coast Journal,\u003c/em> published a joint \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11673412/highway-robbery-drivers-allege-rohnert-park-police-illegally-seized-cannabis-cash\">investigation\u003c/a> examining allegations from eight drivers and the role asset forfeiture played in funding the department.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12047325\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12047325\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/JHuffakerTrial5.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1499\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/JHuffakerTrial5.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/JHuffakerTrial5-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/JHuffakerTrial5-1536x1151.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Brian Masterson, former chief of the Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety, takes the stand as a witness for the prosecution during the criminal trial of former Rohnert Park police officer Joseph Huffaker in San Francisco federal court on Monday, July 7, 2025. \u003ccite>(Vicki Behringer for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Within weeks, Tatum left the Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety. The city moved to fire Huffaker, but he fought back, ultimately \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11735983/probe-into-rohnert-park-cannabis-and-cash-seizures-will-stay-secret-despite-transparency-law#:~:text=Rohnert%20Park%20struck%20a%20deal%20with%20an,way%20of%20'guaranteeing%20he%20is%20never%20reinstated\">securing a $75,000 payout to resign\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In follow-up stories, KQED uncovered \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11678122/documentation-missing-for-at-least-800-pounds-of-marijuana-seized-by-rohnert-park-police\">missing destruction orders\u003c/a> for hundreds of pounds of seized cannabis, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11768671/rohnert-park-settles-one-lawsuit-over-illegal-pot-seizures-5-more-plaintiffs-sue\">followed the lawsuits\u003c/a> that began to mount.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At trial, Tatum testified that officers initially used an official foundry based in San Joaquin to incinerate the excess cannabis. But sometime around 2015, they changed that policy. Instead, they began taking the hundreds of pounds of marijuana to a local farm where they would bury it in the ground.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“We took pictures of Joe on the backhoe digging the holes for the marijuana,” Tatum said, referring to Huffaker.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At some point, Tatum testified, he began taking the marijuana home to sell instead of burying it. Investigators never searched the farm, according to testimony from a special agent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The more drivers I stopped, or we stopped, the more chances we had to steal marijuana,” he testified.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tatum testified that he initially sold the weed through his wife’s uncle Joe Porcaro, splitting the proceeds before the two had a falling out. Porcaro strongly denied any involvement, calling Tatum an “unremorseful, pathological liar” in an email to KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Porcaro said he spoke with the FBI, but was never questioned about Tatum’s allegations. Federal prosecutors declined to answer questions about how they verified Tatum’s testimony or why Porcaro was never pursued as a potential accomplice.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘Robin Hood’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Sometime in 2016, Tatum said he began selling marijuana through his childhood friend Billy Timmins, who later testified against Huffaker in exchange for immunity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Timmins said he initially believed Tatum was growing the marijuana himself, but later realized the volume was too large.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I knew that it wasn’t out of his garage,” Timmins testified. Tatum told him he was “getting it off the highway.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12046904\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12046904\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/250702-JOSEPHHUFFAKERTRIAL-10-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/250702-JOSEPHHUFFAKERTRIAL-10-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/250702-JOSEPHHUFFAKERTRIAL-10-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/250702-JOSEPHHUFFAKERTRIAL-10-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Police vehicles are parked in a lot at the Rohnert Park Police Station in Rohnert Park on July 2, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Tatum said he gave drivers an ultimatum: disclaim ownership of the cannabis or face arrest. If drivers denied ownership, he could classify it as found property.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For several years, Tatum testified, the scheme operated without detection.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was almost like a Robin Hood story,” Timmins testified. “These guys are scumbags, and I’m going to take their weed and that’s that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2017, with legalization approaching under Proposition 64, the chief shut down the interdiction team.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Huffaker\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Tatum testified that he and Huffaker became close friends. Their wives got along, and they spent time together after work. Tatum said that in late 2017, over drinks, they joked about the potential profits they could make from seizing marijuana.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We decided that we’d tell people we were the ATF,” Tatum testified. “And not draw attention to the DEA or somebody locally they could complain to or that it could get back to.” Tatum did not tell Huffaker that he had already been stealing for years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In December 2017, Tatum said the pair carried out several illegal stops.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12047324\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12047324\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/JHuffakerTrial4.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/JHuffakerTrial4.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/JHuffakerTrial4-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/JHuffakerTrial4-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Former Rohnert Park police officer Joseph Huffaker (right) during his trial in San Francisco federal court on Monday, July 7, 2025. \u003ccite>(Vicki Behringer for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Phone records place Tatum and Huffaker in the Hopland area on Dec. 6. Tatum testified they were conducting what he called “illegal interdiction,” stopping drivers and seizing cannabis. He said they met Timmins off Highway 101 near the Commisky exit, where they transferred about eight large trash bags full of marijuana into Timmins’ car so the officers could continue making stops.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In late 2023, Tatum told Timmins, his friend of more than three decades, that he planned to implicate him with the FBI. Timmins said he was furious that Tatum had dragged him into his “mess.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both men said that was the last time they spoke.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shortly before trial, Timmins agreed to cooperate with federal prosecutors.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety today\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>At least six of the peace officers who either worked alongside Tatum and Huffaker or supervised interdiction operations remain in law enforcement, including five with the Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety and one with the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, incident reports and court filings show that when Tatum broke departmental policies in front of them — giving drivers ultimatums, refusing to give property receipts and issuing citations for felonies — they did not stop him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At trial, Huffaker’s attorney asked Tatum whether supervisors ever reviewed body camera footage that captured seizures of large amounts of marijuana and cash. Tatum said they did not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12046905\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12046905\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/250702-JOSEPHHUFFAKERTRIAL-11-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/250702-JOSEPHHUFFAKERTRIAL-11-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/250702-JOSEPHHUFFAKERTRIAL-11-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/250702-JOSEPHHUFFAKERTRIAL-11-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Police vehicles are parked in a lot at the Rohnert Park Police Station in Rohnert Park on July 2, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Tim Mattos, who became chief of the Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety after the scandal, said in a recent interview that the officers were cleared by internal investigations and the FBI.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mattos said the department has since expanded oversight, implemented a new evidence auditing system, added GPS tracking to vehicles and changed procedures for destroying contraband.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“ Let’s not even let this creep into people’s mind because they’re just not gonna be able to do it,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mattos said the department has spent years “living under this cloud” and hopes the sentencing will allow the city to move forward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kemp said the case carried significance for cannabis growers who long feared driving their harvest through “the gauntlet” along Highway 101. But there still has not been a full reckoning with police abuses during prohibition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It wasn’t just those two officers,” Kemp said. “And it wasn’t just Rohnert Park. It was spread throughout the Emerald Triangle. And how bad was it? We may never know.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Flatten is still waiting for justice. He believes that at least one of the men who robbed him remains in law enforcement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "former-bay-area-officers-sentenced-in-scheme-to-steal-weed-during-traffic-stops",
"title": "Former Bay Area Officers Sentenced in Scheme to Steal Weed During Traffic Stops",
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"headTitle": "Former Bay Area Officers Sentenced in Scheme to Steal Weed During Traffic Stops | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>Two former Rohnert Park police officers were sentenced Wednesday to federal prison for their involvement in a scheme to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12082387/former-rohnert-park-officers-who-stole-marijuana-face-federal-sentencing\">steal and resell marijuana\u003c/a> from people they pulled over along Highway 101.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Former Officer Joseph Huffaker was sentenced to 20 months in federal custody. His partner and former Sgt. Brendon Jacy Tatum was sentenced to 30 months. Both sentences are to be followed by three years of supervised release.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">KQED first reported eight years ago on allegations from \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11673412/highway-robbery-drivers-allege-rohnert-park-police-illegally-seized-cannabis-cash\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">drivers who came forward\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to say that officers from Rohnert Park had stolen marijuana from them during traffic stops along Highway 101. Even after Wednesday’s sentencing, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12082387/former-rohnert-park-officers-who-stole-marijuana-face-federal-sentencing\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">broader questions remain\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in the scandal that exposed failures in Northern California law enforcement during the final years of marijuana prohibition.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These guys committed a lot of crimes,” said Huedell Freeman, one of Tatum’s victims. “They’re only being taken to account on a few of them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shortly after a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11889861/ex-rohnert-park-cops-indicted-on-federal-extortion-conspiracy-charges-linked-to-marijuana-seizures\">federal grand jury indicted\u003c/a> the two officers in 2021, Tatum pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate. Huffaker fought the charges but was \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12046733/trial-begins-for-ex-rohnert-park-officer-accused-of-seizing-marijuana-from-drivers\">convicted by a federal jury\u003c/a> last summer of six counts, including conspiracy, extortion, falsifying records and impersonating a federal officer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Huffaker’s attorney declined to comment on whether he will appeal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He was initially set for sentencing in April, but in an unusual move, Judge Maxine M. Chesney delayed it to coincide with Tatum’s sentencing. Chesney wanted to consider the penalties for the two codefendants in tandem to account for their relative culpability.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12047324\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12047324\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/JHuffakerTrial4.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/JHuffakerTrial4.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/JHuffakerTrial4-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/JHuffakerTrial4-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Former Rohnert Park police officer Joseph Huffaker (right) during his trial in San Francisco federal court on July 7, 2025. \u003ccite>(Vicki Behringer for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>This was to Huffaker’s benefit. Prosecutors had sought 62 months in prison for Huffaker initially, but last week downgraded that ask to 40 months in recognition of Tatum’s larger role in the scheme. The government asked the judge to sentence Tatum to 46 months in prison and three years of supervised release. Attorneys for both men asked for home confinement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tatum’s role as “the heavy in this case” is undisputed, the judge said at last month’s hearing. Tatum testified at trial that he stole hundreds of pounds of cannabis over dozens of traffic stops between 2014 and 2016, raking in about $500,000. It was only in late 2017 — on the eve of recreational marijuana legalization — that Tatum said he cut Huffaker in on the scheme.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It does happen that you cooperate down,” said Tom Rybarczyk, a former federal prosecutor who is now with Kelley Drye & Warren.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chesney said she does not think it is a “good idea” for the government to make these kinds of deals. But she said that was not Tatum’s fault, and he deserved consideration for cooperating.\u003cbr>\nShe also said that Huffaker should not be penalized for exercising his right to trial.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At least there’s some accountability,” said Zeke Flatten, another victim of the scheme.[aside postID=news_12082387 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/JHuffakerTrial6.jpg']Huffaker and Tatum both addressed the judge directly and apologized to the victims for their involvement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I sincerely regret the decisions and actions I have made that brought me here today,” Huffaker wrote in a letter to the judge. “8 [sic] years ago, I should have made a different choice, but I didn’t, and I am owning up to that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As a police officer for 14 years, I took an oath to protect and serve, but I broke that oath,” Tatum wrote. “I made the selfish and criminal decision to steal marijuana from people I arrested and profit from it. I did it because I was being greedy, living beyond my means, and trying to build a life that looked better than the one I came from.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Freeman said the remorse Tatum expressed felt genuine, but he added that Huffaker has never acknowledged his role in things or taken accountability for his actions. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tatum will have to pay $20,000 in restitution to Barron Lutz, $278,145.70 in restitution to the IRS, and forfeit $198,854.30 to the government. Huffaker \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">will have to pay \u003c/span>$20,000 in restitution to Lutz and a $600 special assessment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Freeman said the remorse Tatum expressed felt genuine, but that Huffaker has never acknowledged his role in things or taken accountability for his actions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tatum’s defense attorney, Stuart Hanlon, asked the judge to take into account the difficulties that his client experienced early on. Tatum was raised by a single mother and never acknowledged by his biological father, a football player for the Oakland Raiders, according to court filings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It could sound like you’re being tear-jerky, but I think it had a huge effect on him,” Hanlon said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2005, when he was 22 years old, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/ROHNERT-PARK-Police-shoot-kill-Santa-Rosa-man-2702266.php\">Tatum shot and killed a person\u003c/a> in the line of duty. It was found to be self-defense, but Hanlon said it affected the young officer who was just eight months out of the police academy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chesney said this behavior by Tatum was not an isolated incident of someone acting out, but a “calculated decision to make money.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12047328\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12047328 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/JHuffakerTrial8.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1847\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/JHuffakerTrial8.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/JHuffakerTrial8-160x148.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/JHuffakerTrial8-1536x1418.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Former Rohnert Park Police Sgt. Brendon Jacy Tatum, who worked with Joseph Huffaker, takes the stand in San Francisco federal court on July 7, 2025. \u003ccite>(Vicki Behringer for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Thanks to the yearslong delays in this case, Tatum has also had an unusual opportunity to prove his rehabilitation, Hanlon said. His probation officer recommended that Tatum receive just 24 months in prison in light of these mitigating factors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I am proud that Mr. Tatum is my last client,” Hanlon said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hanlon, who is retiring after the case, said Tatum has been rehabilitated and asked what it would serve to send him to prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Tatum’s record as an officer is not unblemished. While serving as an officer in 2014, Tatum was found to have violated a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11702984/federal-jury-rohnert-park-police-violated-couples-constitutional-rights\">couple’s Fourth Amendment rights\u003c/a> when he entered the back door of their home without a warrant and with his gun drawn. He was also placed on the Sonoma County district attorney’s so-called Brady list of officers with credibility issues due to shifting testimony \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11701249/ex-cops-credibility-is-key-question-in-federal-suit-against-rohnert-park\">dating back to 2015\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2024, while awaiting sentencing, Tatum was \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12022803/exclusive-ex-rohnert-park-cop-faces-few-consequences-illegal-cannabis-grow\">busted by Sonoma County Code Enforcement\u003c/a> for renting out his barn for a large black market marijuana grow in a clear violation of the terms of his pretrial release. Prosecutors did not mention this violation in their sentencing memorandum, and the judge did not address it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The judge said likely no one would be happy with her decisions, but “I did not come to any of these decisions lightly.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Any time for a police officer in custody is actually a significant amount of time,” Rybarczyk said. “ People in custody do not like police officers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chesney said she was sensitive to the safety concerns for the former officers and recommended that the Bureau of Prisons place Tatum and Huffaker in minimum security prison camps.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chesney granted Hanlon’s request to let Tatum remain out of custody until Jan. 11, 2027, after this year’s fire season, in light of his job with Cal Fire and the U.S. Forest Service. Huffaker is set to surrender on Sep. 15.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Two former Rohnert Park police officers, Joseph Huffaker and Brendon Jacy Tatum, were sentenced to federal prison for stealing and reselling marijuana during Highway 101 traffic stops in a Northern California corruption case.",
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"title": "Former Bay Area Officers Sentenced in Scheme to Steal Weed During Traffic Stops | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Two former Rohnert Park police officers were sentenced Wednesday to federal prison for their involvement in a scheme to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12082387/former-rohnert-park-officers-who-stole-marijuana-face-federal-sentencing\">steal and resell marijuana\u003c/a> from people they pulled over along Highway 101.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Former Officer Joseph Huffaker was sentenced to 20 months in federal custody. His partner and former Sgt. Brendon Jacy Tatum was sentenced to 30 months. Both sentences are to be followed by three years of supervised release.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">KQED first reported eight years ago on allegations from \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11673412/highway-robbery-drivers-allege-rohnert-park-police-illegally-seized-cannabis-cash\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">drivers who came forward\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to say that officers from Rohnert Park had stolen marijuana from them during traffic stops along Highway 101. Even after Wednesday’s sentencing, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12082387/former-rohnert-park-officers-who-stole-marijuana-face-federal-sentencing\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">broader questions remain\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in the scandal that exposed failures in Northern California law enforcement during the final years of marijuana prohibition.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These guys committed a lot of crimes,” said Huedell Freeman, one of Tatum’s victims. “They’re only being taken to account on a few of them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shortly after a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11889861/ex-rohnert-park-cops-indicted-on-federal-extortion-conspiracy-charges-linked-to-marijuana-seizures\">federal grand jury indicted\u003c/a> the two officers in 2021, Tatum pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate. Huffaker fought the charges but was \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12046733/trial-begins-for-ex-rohnert-park-officer-accused-of-seizing-marijuana-from-drivers\">convicted by a federal jury\u003c/a> last summer of six counts, including conspiracy, extortion, falsifying records and impersonating a federal officer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Huffaker’s attorney declined to comment on whether he will appeal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He was initially set for sentencing in April, but in an unusual move, Judge Maxine M. Chesney delayed it to coincide with Tatum’s sentencing. Chesney wanted to consider the penalties for the two codefendants in tandem to account for their relative culpability.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12047324\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12047324\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/JHuffakerTrial4.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/JHuffakerTrial4.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/JHuffakerTrial4-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/JHuffakerTrial4-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Former Rohnert Park police officer Joseph Huffaker (right) during his trial in San Francisco federal court on July 7, 2025. \u003ccite>(Vicki Behringer for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>This was to Huffaker’s benefit. Prosecutors had sought 62 months in prison for Huffaker initially, but last week downgraded that ask to 40 months in recognition of Tatum’s larger role in the scheme. The government asked the judge to sentence Tatum to 46 months in prison and three years of supervised release. Attorneys for both men asked for home confinement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tatum’s role as “the heavy in this case” is undisputed, the judge said at last month’s hearing. Tatum testified at trial that he stole hundreds of pounds of cannabis over dozens of traffic stops between 2014 and 2016, raking in about $500,000. It was only in late 2017 — on the eve of recreational marijuana legalization — that Tatum said he cut Huffaker in on the scheme.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It does happen that you cooperate down,” said Tom Rybarczyk, a former federal prosecutor who is now with Kelley Drye & Warren.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chesney said she does not think it is a “good idea” for the government to make these kinds of deals. But she said that was not Tatum’s fault, and he deserved consideration for cooperating.\u003cbr>\nShe also said that Huffaker should not be penalized for exercising his right to trial.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At least there’s some accountability,” said Zeke Flatten, another victim of the scheme.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Huffaker and Tatum both addressed the judge directly and apologized to the victims for their involvement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I sincerely regret the decisions and actions I have made that brought me here today,” Huffaker wrote in a letter to the judge. “8 [sic] years ago, I should have made a different choice, but I didn’t, and I am owning up to that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As a police officer for 14 years, I took an oath to protect and serve, but I broke that oath,” Tatum wrote. “I made the selfish and criminal decision to steal marijuana from people I arrested and profit from it. I did it because I was being greedy, living beyond my means, and trying to build a life that looked better than the one I came from.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Freeman said the remorse Tatum expressed felt genuine, but he added that Huffaker has never acknowledged his role in things or taken accountability for his actions. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tatum will have to pay $20,000 in restitution to Barron Lutz, $278,145.70 in restitution to the IRS, and forfeit $198,854.30 to the government. Huffaker \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">will have to pay \u003c/span>$20,000 in restitution to Lutz and a $600 special assessment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Freeman said the remorse Tatum expressed felt genuine, but that Huffaker has never acknowledged his role in things or taken accountability for his actions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tatum’s defense attorney, Stuart Hanlon, asked the judge to take into account the difficulties that his client experienced early on. Tatum was raised by a single mother and never acknowledged by his biological father, a football player for the Oakland Raiders, according to court filings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It could sound like you’re being tear-jerky, but I think it had a huge effect on him,” Hanlon said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2005, when he was 22 years old, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/ROHNERT-PARK-Police-shoot-kill-Santa-Rosa-man-2702266.php\">Tatum shot and killed a person\u003c/a> in the line of duty. It was found to be self-defense, but Hanlon said it affected the young officer who was just eight months out of the police academy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chesney said this behavior by Tatum was not an isolated incident of someone acting out, but a “calculated decision to make money.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12047328\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12047328 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/JHuffakerTrial8.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1847\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/JHuffakerTrial8.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/JHuffakerTrial8-160x148.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/JHuffakerTrial8-1536x1418.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Former Rohnert Park Police Sgt. Brendon Jacy Tatum, who worked with Joseph Huffaker, takes the stand in San Francisco federal court on July 7, 2025. \u003ccite>(Vicki Behringer for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Thanks to the yearslong delays in this case, Tatum has also had an unusual opportunity to prove his rehabilitation, Hanlon said. His probation officer recommended that Tatum receive just 24 months in prison in light of these mitigating factors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I am proud that Mr. Tatum is my last client,” Hanlon said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hanlon, who is retiring after the case, said Tatum has been rehabilitated and asked what it would serve to send him to prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Tatum’s record as an officer is not unblemished. While serving as an officer in 2014, Tatum was found to have violated a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11702984/federal-jury-rohnert-park-police-violated-couples-constitutional-rights\">couple’s Fourth Amendment rights\u003c/a> when he entered the back door of their home without a warrant and with his gun drawn. He was also placed on the Sonoma County district attorney’s so-called Brady list of officers with credibility issues due to shifting testimony \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11701249/ex-cops-credibility-is-key-question-in-federal-suit-against-rohnert-park\">dating back to 2015\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2024, while awaiting sentencing, Tatum was \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12022803/exclusive-ex-rohnert-park-cop-faces-few-consequences-illegal-cannabis-grow\">busted by Sonoma County Code Enforcement\u003c/a> for renting out his barn for a large black market marijuana grow in a clear violation of the terms of his pretrial release. Prosecutors did not mention this violation in their sentencing memorandum, and the judge did not address it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The judge said likely no one would be happy with her decisions, but “I did not come to any of these decisions lightly.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Any time for a police officer in custody is actually a significant amount of time,” Rybarczyk said. “ People in custody do not like police officers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chesney said she was sensitive to the safety concerns for the former officers and recommended that the Bureau of Prisons place Tatum and Huffaker in minimum security prison camps.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chesney granted Hanlon’s request to let Tatum remain out of custody until Jan. 11, 2027, after this year’s fire season, in light of his job with Cal Fire and the U.S. Forest Service. Huffaker is set to surrender on Sep. 15.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Former \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/rohnert-park\">Rohnert Park\u003c/a> police officer Joseph Huffaker was found guilty on Friday in San Francisco federal court of six counts, including conspiracy, extortion, falsifying records and impersonating a federal officer to seize marijuana from motorists on Highway 101, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The jury deliberated for about 90 minutes before reaching a unanimous verdict. During closing arguments on Friday, prosecutors focused on phone records that placed Huffaker — who illegally stopped motorists to steal their marijuana as part of a conspiracy with other officers — at the scene of one of the suspicious stops.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The defense strategy was to blame Brendon “Jacy” Tatum, Huffaker’s former partner, who testified during the trial, among others. The jury was not swayed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After the verdict, Huedell Freeman, one of the victims of the seizure scheme, said he had goosebumps. Huffaker is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 15.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It does feel like there’s a small measure of justice,” he said. “And I’m gratified that the jury was able to sort through the facts, because there was a lot of obfuscation put up by the defense, which is their job.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m really gratified and feel happy that — finally — justice for the unfairly much-maligned cannabis farmer is finally being served. I mean, they made us out to be rich people that needed to be robbed, and we are not that. We are anything but that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Richard Ceballos, Huffaker’s attorney, declined to comment, as did Assistant U.S. Attorney Abraham Fine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Seven years ago, KQED \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11673412/highway-robbery-drivers-allege-rohnert-park-police-illegally-seized-cannabis-cash\">first reported on a string of allegations\u003c/a> from drivers who said Rohnert Park cops, operating far outside the city’s limits, had unlawfully seized hundreds of pounds of cannabis during pretextual traffic stops.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As recreational marijuana became legal in 2018, growers who had operated in the grey area of the medical cannabis market finally felt safe to come forward. Huffaker’s trial promises a rare window into how local and federal officials responded to long-silenced complaints of police corruption.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This has been a long time coming, and it is a very important case,” said Izaak Schwaiger, a defense and civil rights attorney who filed a lawsuit over the unlawful seizure scheme.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said taking the case to trial demonstrates “the government’s willingness to start holding people accountable in a real sense — people who were given a free pass for so long precisely because they were cops.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11897846\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11897846 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/12/IMG_8039-scaled-e1737145446662.jpg\" alt=\"A man wearing a face mask and business suit walks into a building.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sgt. Brendon “Jacy” Tatum walks into the Phillip Burton Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in San Francisco on Dec. 1, 2021. \u003ccite>(Sukey Lewis/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Shortly after KQED published its investigation in 2018, Tatum resigned. The city moved to terminate Huffaker but later \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11735983/probe-into-rohnert-park-cannabis-and-cash-seizures-will-stay-secret-despite-transparency-law\">agreed to a settlement\u003c/a>, ensuring that an internal affairs investigation into the interdiction team would remain secret, despite a new police transparency law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city of Rohnert Park has since \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11802870/rohnert-park-payouts-set-to-top-1-8-million-over-marijuana-and-cash-seizures\">paid out more than $1.8 million\u003c/a> to settle civil lawsuits over the seizures. A \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11889861/ex-rohnert-park-cops-indicted-on-federal-extortion-conspiracy-charges-linked-to-marijuana-seizures\">federal grand jury indicted\u003c/a> Huffaker and Tatum in September 2021.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two months later, Tatum \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11897845/ex-rohnert-park-cop-pleads-guilty-to-conspiracy-to-commit-extortion\">pleaded guilty\u003c/a> to conspiracy to commit extortion under “color of law,” falsifying records in a federal investigation and tax evasion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unlike Tatum, Huffaker chose to fight the charges, backed by the police union’s legal defense fund, according to court filings and documents reviewed by KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the past four years, Huffaker has gone through at least seven different lawyers, including Chris Shea of Marin, who died unexpectedly just two weeks before Huffaker was set for trial in October 2023. Huffaker’s latest defense attorney, Richard Ceballos of Ferrone Law Group, said he can not comment on his client’s case until after the trial is over. The U.S. attorney’s office also declined to comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s always been this gnawing feeling that these guys are still walking free,” said Freeman, who received a settlement from Rohnert Park. “They’ve never done any time for the crime.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even with extensive public scrutiny, the lawsuits and a federal indictment, this case continues to present surprises. In February, KQED discovered that Sonoma County Code Enforcement had busted Tatum for a large indoor marijuana grow on his Santa Rosa property. In March, prosecutors dropped one of the charges against Huffaker. And then in May, a new witness — a coconspirator who said he sold stolen weed on the officers’ behalf — was added to the case.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘Brady’ cop\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>One of the key witnesses expected to take the stand is Tatum, whose plea deal includes an agreement to testify against his former partner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tatum was the sergeant in charge of Rohnert Park’s interdiction team, which oversaw the seizure of $3.6 million under civil asset forfeiture laws and at least 2.5 tons of marijuana between 2013 and 2018, according to documents obtained and analyzed by KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2015, Rohnert Park’s mayor formally recognized Tatum for his drug suppression efforts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11864661\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11864661\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/RS31347_IMG_3562-qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/RS31347_IMG_3562-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/RS31347_IMG_3562-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/RS31347_IMG_3562-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/RS31347_IMG_3562-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/RS31347_IMG_3562-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Former Rohnert Park police officers Brendon Jacy Tatum and Joseph Huffaker are facing federal charges tied to alleged illegal stops and seizures of cash and marijuana along Highway 101. \u003ccite>(Adam Grossberg/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But alongside the apparent success of the interdiction team, complaints about Tatum’s tactics and his \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11701249/ex-cops-credibility-is-key-question-in-federal-suit-against-rohnert-park\">credibility began to mount\u003c/a>. By 2016, the Sonoma County District Attorney’s office had placed him on its “Brady list” — a list of officers with known integrity issues. When Tatum takes the stand, Ceballos will likely introduce materials from his record to impeach his testimony.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He’s a habitual liar,” said Schwaiger, who gave the DA evidence of Tatum’s dishonesty, which led to his placement on the list of problem cops. But Schwaiger said that in this case, Tatum’s testimony will be backed up by hard evidence. “So, I don’t think that the case is made or lost on the testimony of any given witness,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tatum has spent the past four years out of custody awaiting sentencing, which is currently scheduled for September. While under pretrial supervision, KQED discovered that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12022803/exclusive-ex-rohnert-park-cop-faces-few-consequences-illegal-cannabis-grow\">Tatum was fined by Sonoma County code enforcement\u003c/a> in 2024 for a large indoor cannabis grow on his property. Federal officials declined to comment on whether this violated the terms of Tatum’s $100,000 bond agreement.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Proffer admissions\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In February 2022, court documents show that Huffaker sat down with the FBI and admitted that he and Tatum had “agreed to extort drivers under color of official right for marijuana in December of 2017, that they committed multiple such extortions, that Defendant expected to receive money from these extortions, and that he knew his acts were criminal.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12046906\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12046906\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/250702-JOSEPHHUFFAKERTRIAL-17-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/250702-JOSEPHHUFFAKERTRIAL-17-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/250702-JOSEPHHUFFAKERTRIAL-17-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/250702-JOSEPHHUFFAKERTRIAL-17-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A sign for Rohnert Park on Commerce Boulevard in Rohnert Park on July 2, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Huffaker made these admissions during a proffer interview — part of a plea process in which defendants offer information to the government in exchange for leniency. But in this case, the negotiations “fell apart,” court records show, and Huffaker walked away from the deal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Senior District Judge Maxine Chesney has allowed the government to use Huffaker’s statements during the proffer interview and to internal affairs as rebuttal evidence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It is not clear yet if Huffaker will take the stand, but if he does, Schwaiger said these “prior statements” are likely to be introduced.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A last-minute witness\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In the final month leading up to trial, prosecutors also introduced a new witness in their case against Huffaker: a man named William Timmins.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Timmins told the FBI that he saw Huffaker with Tatum around Dec. 4, 2017, and that he’d “assisted in unloading and loading of approximately 100 to 200 pounds of marijuana on the side of the highway,” according to court filings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12046768\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12046768 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/FBIJacketGetty1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1330\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/FBIJacketGetty1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/FBIJacketGetty1-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/FBIJacketGetty1-1536x1021.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Former Rohnert Park police officer Joseph Huffaker is on trial in San Francisco federal court, where prosecutors say he admitted to the FBI that he conspired to extort marijuana from drivers during traffic stops on Highway 101. \u003ccite>(Sebastian Barros/Nur Photo via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Timmins also said it was his job to sell the stolen cannabis and that he’d split the proceeds with Tatum, court records show.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The defense filed a motion to exclude Timmins’s testimony, noting that the FBI interviewed Timmins at least four times in the past two years and that his story has changed. It wasn’t until May 2025 that Timmins admitted his involvement in the scheme and told the FBI that he’d seen Huffaker on the side of the road.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The judge will allow Timmins to testify. Court filings indicate he has been granted immunity in exchange for his testimony.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Dropped charge\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Another witness long expected to testify for the prosecution is Texas resident Zeke Flatten. Flatten was the first driver to come forward and tell independent journalist Kym Kemp that on Dec. 5, 2017, officers claiming to work for the ATF — the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives — stole three pounds of cannabis from him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As Kemp began to ask around, court records show that Tatum and Huffaker met at Huffaker’s house and used his wife’s computer to draft a press release claiming responsibility for the Dec. 5, 2017, traffic stop. But the incident report details were all wrong: the make and model of the car, the amount of cannabis and even the presence of Tatum.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The press release, written to cover up one incident, actually contained the accurate details of a different seizure and traffic stop that took place on Dec. 18, 2017.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“ They issued a press release after the fact regarding the seizure, but got all of the details wrong because they were unlawfully seizing too many people to keep track of everyone,” Schwaiger said. “It’s like these cops — nobody questioned them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From the beginning, Flatten has said that Tatum was not one of the officers who pulled him over. He has said Huffaker was there along with another older white man, both wearing green uniforms without name tags and large “POLICE” insignias. That man has never been identified and Huffaker later claimed he was not a part of Flatten’s stop.[aside postID=news_11673412 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/RS31344_IMG_3493-qut-672x372.jpg']Flatten’s complaints, filed with local, state and federal law enforcement, sparked public scrutiny and the FBI investigation that ultimately led to Tatum and Huffaker’s indictment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Flatten’s case is hard to boil down into a tidy story. In March, prosecutors dropped Flatten as a witness and dropped one of the extortion charges initially filed against Huffaker related to the Dec. 5, 2017, stop. At the time, Flatten said he was disappointed he wouldn’t get the chance to face Huffaker in court.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“After this many years and this much time put into it and very much life altering,” Flatten said. “And it’s not like I created something out of the air that didn’t happen. These guys were really doing it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then, in another twist, the defense added Flatten to\u003cem> its \u003c/em>witness list in June. In court filings, Ceballos argued that excluding Flatten from the case would confuse the jury. He also claimed that federal prosecutors dropped Flatten because he was a “paid FBI informant,” which hadn’t been disclosed. Flatten said he did work as an undercover informant for the FBI many years ago, but was not working as an informant on Dec. 5, 2017.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Judge Chesney has yet to rule on whether or not Flatten can take the stand.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Brothers in blue?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Court filings show that the federal prosecution plans to focus on a single traffic stop — the one on Dec. 18, 2017, that Huffaker and Tatum conflated with Flatten’s stop on Dec. 5, 2017. However, more than two tons of cannabis were seized during the years that Tatum ran Rohnert Park’s interdiction task force.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Huffaker and Tatum pulled over Freeman on Dec. 29, 2016, and took 47 pounds of cannabis that he had grown legally in Mendocino County, for which he had documentation. The day after the stop, Freeman said he called Rohnert Park and spoke to Sgt. Eric Matzen, who assured him that he’d be able to get his property back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12046903\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12046903\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/250702-JOSEPHHUFFAKERTRIAL-05-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/250702-JOSEPHHUFFAKERTRIAL-05-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/250702-JOSEPHHUFFAKERTRIAL-05-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/250702-JOSEPHHUFFAKERTRIAL-05-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A sign for the Rohnert Park Police Station on July 2, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A few days later, Freeman’s attorney also contacted the city, but the department never returned his property, and his complaints were never investigated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I lived in terror for two years after that,” Freeman said. “They bankrupted me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Matzen is listed as a witness for the prosecution, along with a handful of other command staff and records personnel from the Rohnert Park Public Safety Department, including former chief Brian Masterson, who retired in the wake of the scandal.[aside postID=news_12022803 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/5452-HALL-RD-RETURN-W-PIC_Page_4-1020x680.jpg']Four other officers took part in cannabis seizures alongside Tatum: Matthew Snodgrass, Nicholas Miller, Chris Snyder and Chris Medina.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Snodgrass is now a lieutenant for Rohnert Park. Snyder and Miller are deputies with the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office. Medina worked for the Burlingame Police Department before returning to Rohnert Park, where he worked until 2021.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Initially, when Huffaker was set to go to trial in 2023, these men were on the prosecution’s witness list, court filings show. Now, if called, they will be witnesses for the defense.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Schwaiger said he hopes the outcome of this case sends the message “ to people who wear the uniform and the badge, that this is not a license to rob, to steal, to kill, to hurt people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Freeman said he will be attending the trial and hopes for a guilty verdict.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“ I feel bad about anybody that has to do time, but sometimes people deserve it,” he said. “I mean, they, really, really did incredible damage to a lot of people’s faith in law enforcement.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "A federal jury convicted former Rohnert Park police officer Joseph Huffaker of stealing cannabis from drivers along Highway 101 in a yearslong marijuana seizure scheme.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Former \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/rohnert-park\">Rohnert Park\u003c/a> police officer Joseph Huffaker was found guilty on Friday in San Francisco federal court of six counts, including conspiracy, extortion, falsifying records and impersonating a federal officer to seize marijuana from motorists on Highway 101, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The jury deliberated for about 90 minutes before reaching a unanimous verdict. During closing arguments on Friday, prosecutors focused on phone records that placed Huffaker — who illegally stopped motorists to steal their marijuana as part of a conspiracy with other officers — at the scene of one of the suspicious stops.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The defense strategy was to blame Brendon “Jacy” Tatum, Huffaker’s former partner, who testified during the trial, among others. The jury was not swayed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After the verdict, Huedell Freeman, one of the victims of the seizure scheme, said he had goosebumps. Huffaker is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 15.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It does feel like there’s a small measure of justice,” he said. “And I’m gratified that the jury was able to sort through the facts, because there was a lot of obfuscation put up by the defense, which is their job.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m really gratified and feel happy that — finally — justice for the unfairly much-maligned cannabis farmer is finally being served. I mean, they made us out to be rich people that needed to be robbed, and we are not that. We are anything but that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Richard Ceballos, Huffaker’s attorney, declined to comment, as did Assistant U.S. Attorney Abraham Fine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Seven years ago, KQED \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11673412/highway-robbery-drivers-allege-rohnert-park-police-illegally-seized-cannabis-cash\">first reported on a string of allegations\u003c/a> from drivers who said Rohnert Park cops, operating far outside the city’s limits, had unlawfully seized hundreds of pounds of cannabis during pretextual traffic stops.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As recreational marijuana became legal in 2018, growers who had operated in the grey area of the medical cannabis market finally felt safe to come forward. Huffaker’s trial promises a rare window into how local and federal officials responded to long-silenced complaints of police corruption.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This has been a long time coming, and it is a very important case,” said Izaak Schwaiger, a defense and civil rights attorney who filed a lawsuit over the unlawful seizure scheme.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said taking the case to trial demonstrates “the government’s willingness to start holding people accountable in a real sense — people who were given a free pass for so long precisely because they were cops.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11897846\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11897846 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/12/IMG_8039-scaled-e1737145446662.jpg\" alt=\"A man wearing a face mask and business suit walks into a building.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sgt. Brendon “Jacy” Tatum walks into the Phillip Burton Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in San Francisco on Dec. 1, 2021. \u003ccite>(Sukey Lewis/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Shortly after KQED published its investigation in 2018, Tatum resigned. The city moved to terminate Huffaker but later \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11735983/probe-into-rohnert-park-cannabis-and-cash-seizures-will-stay-secret-despite-transparency-law\">agreed to a settlement\u003c/a>, ensuring that an internal affairs investigation into the interdiction team would remain secret, despite a new police transparency law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city of Rohnert Park has since \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11802870/rohnert-park-payouts-set-to-top-1-8-million-over-marijuana-and-cash-seizures\">paid out more than $1.8 million\u003c/a> to settle civil lawsuits over the seizures. A \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11889861/ex-rohnert-park-cops-indicted-on-federal-extortion-conspiracy-charges-linked-to-marijuana-seizures\">federal grand jury indicted\u003c/a> Huffaker and Tatum in September 2021.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two months later, Tatum \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11897845/ex-rohnert-park-cop-pleads-guilty-to-conspiracy-to-commit-extortion\">pleaded guilty\u003c/a> to conspiracy to commit extortion under “color of law,” falsifying records in a federal investigation and tax evasion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unlike Tatum, Huffaker chose to fight the charges, backed by the police union’s legal defense fund, according to court filings and documents reviewed by KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the past four years, Huffaker has gone through at least seven different lawyers, including Chris Shea of Marin, who died unexpectedly just two weeks before Huffaker was set for trial in October 2023. Huffaker’s latest defense attorney, Richard Ceballos of Ferrone Law Group, said he can not comment on his client’s case until after the trial is over. The U.S. attorney’s office also declined to comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s always been this gnawing feeling that these guys are still walking free,” said Freeman, who received a settlement from Rohnert Park. “They’ve never done any time for the crime.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even with extensive public scrutiny, the lawsuits and a federal indictment, this case continues to present surprises. In February, KQED discovered that Sonoma County Code Enforcement had busted Tatum for a large indoor marijuana grow on his Santa Rosa property. In March, prosecutors dropped one of the charges against Huffaker. And then in May, a new witness — a coconspirator who said he sold stolen weed on the officers’ behalf — was added to the case.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘Brady’ cop\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>One of the key witnesses expected to take the stand is Tatum, whose plea deal includes an agreement to testify against his former partner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tatum was the sergeant in charge of Rohnert Park’s interdiction team, which oversaw the seizure of $3.6 million under civil asset forfeiture laws and at least 2.5 tons of marijuana between 2013 and 2018, according to documents obtained and analyzed by KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2015, Rohnert Park’s mayor formally recognized Tatum for his drug suppression efforts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11864661\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11864661\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/RS31347_IMG_3562-qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/RS31347_IMG_3562-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/RS31347_IMG_3562-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/RS31347_IMG_3562-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/RS31347_IMG_3562-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/RS31347_IMG_3562-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Former Rohnert Park police officers Brendon Jacy Tatum and Joseph Huffaker are facing federal charges tied to alleged illegal stops and seizures of cash and marijuana along Highway 101. \u003ccite>(Adam Grossberg/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But alongside the apparent success of the interdiction team, complaints about Tatum’s tactics and his \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11701249/ex-cops-credibility-is-key-question-in-federal-suit-against-rohnert-park\">credibility began to mount\u003c/a>. By 2016, the Sonoma County District Attorney’s office had placed him on its “Brady list” — a list of officers with known integrity issues. When Tatum takes the stand, Ceballos will likely introduce materials from his record to impeach his testimony.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He’s a habitual liar,” said Schwaiger, who gave the DA evidence of Tatum’s dishonesty, which led to his placement on the list of problem cops. But Schwaiger said that in this case, Tatum’s testimony will be backed up by hard evidence. “So, I don’t think that the case is made or lost on the testimony of any given witness,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tatum has spent the past four years out of custody awaiting sentencing, which is currently scheduled for September. While under pretrial supervision, KQED discovered that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12022803/exclusive-ex-rohnert-park-cop-faces-few-consequences-illegal-cannabis-grow\">Tatum was fined by Sonoma County code enforcement\u003c/a> in 2024 for a large indoor cannabis grow on his property. Federal officials declined to comment on whether this violated the terms of Tatum’s $100,000 bond agreement.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Proffer admissions\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In February 2022, court documents show that Huffaker sat down with the FBI and admitted that he and Tatum had “agreed to extort drivers under color of official right for marijuana in December of 2017, that they committed multiple such extortions, that Defendant expected to receive money from these extortions, and that he knew his acts were criminal.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12046906\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12046906\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/250702-JOSEPHHUFFAKERTRIAL-17-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/250702-JOSEPHHUFFAKERTRIAL-17-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/250702-JOSEPHHUFFAKERTRIAL-17-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/250702-JOSEPHHUFFAKERTRIAL-17-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A sign for Rohnert Park on Commerce Boulevard in Rohnert Park on July 2, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Huffaker made these admissions during a proffer interview — part of a plea process in which defendants offer information to the government in exchange for leniency. But in this case, the negotiations “fell apart,” court records show, and Huffaker walked away from the deal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Senior District Judge Maxine Chesney has allowed the government to use Huffaker’s statements during the proffer interview and to internal affairs as rebuttal evidence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It is not clear yet if Huffaker will take the stand, but if he does, Schwaiger said these “prior statements” are likely to be introduced.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A last-minute witness\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In the final month leading up to trial, prosecutors also introduced a new witness in their case against Huffaker: a man named William Timmins.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Timmins told the FBI that he saw Huffaker with Tatum around Dec. 4, 2017, and that he’d “assisted in unloading and loading of approximately 100 to 200 pounds of marijuana on the side of the highway,” according to court filings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12046768\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12046768 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/FBIJacketGetty1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1330\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/FBIJacketGetty1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/FBIJacketGetty1-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/FBIJacketGetty1-1536x1021.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Former Rohnert Park police officer Joseph Huffaker is on trial in San Francisco federal court, where prosecutors say he admitted to the FBI that he conspired to extort marijuana from drivers during traffic stops on Highway 101. \u003ccite>(Sebastian Barros/Nur Photo via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Timmins also said it was his job to sell the stolen cannabis and that he’d split the proceeds with Tatum, court records show.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The defense filed a motion to exclude Timmins’s testimony, noting that the FBI interviewed Timmins at least four times in the past two years and that his story has changed. It wasn’t until May 2025 that Timmins admitted his involvement in the scheme and told the FBI that he’d seen Huffaker on the side of the road.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The judge will allow Timmins to testify. Court filings indicate he has been granted immunity in exchange for his testimony.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Dropped charge\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Another witness long expected to testify for the prosecution is Texas resident Zeke Flatten. Flatten was the first driver to come forward and tell independent journalist Kym Kemp that on Dec. 5, 2017, officers claiming to work for the ATF — the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives — stole three pounds of cannabis from him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As Kemp began to ask around, court records show that Tatum and Huffaker met at Huffaker’s house and used his wife’s computer to draft a press release claiming responsibility for the Dec. 5, 2017, traffic stop. But the incident report details were all wrong: the make and model of the car, the amount of cannabis and even the presence of Tatum.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The press release, written to cover up one incident, actually contained the accurate details of a different seizure and traffic stop that took place on Dec. 18, 2017.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“ They issued a press release after the fact regarding the seizure, but got all of the details wrong because they were unlawfully seizing too many people to keep track of everyone,” Schwaiger said. “It’s like these cops — nobody questioned them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From the beginning, Flatten has said that Tatum was not one of the officers who pulled him over. He has said Huffaker was there along with another older white man, both wearing green uniforms without name tags and large “POLICE” insignias. That man has never been identified and Huffaker later claimed he was not a part of Flatten’s stop.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Flatten’s complaints, filed with local, state and federal law enforcement, sparked public scrutiny and the FBI investigation that ultimately led to Tatum and Huffaker’s indictment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Flatten’s case is hard to boil down into a tidy story. In March, prosecutors dropped Flatten as a witness and dropped one of the extortion charges initially filed against Huffaker related to the Dec. 5, 2017, stop. At the time, Flatten said he was disappointed he wouldn’t get the chance to face Huffaker in court.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“After this many years and this much time put into it and very much life altering,” Flatten said. “And it’s not like I created something out of the air that didn’t happen. These guys were really doing it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then, in another twist, the defense added Flatten to\u003cem> its \u003c/em>witness list in June. In court filings, Ceballos argued that excluding Flatten from the case would confuse the jury. He also claimed that federal prosecutors dropped Flatten because he was a “paid FBI informant,” which hadn’t been disclosed. Flatten said he did work as an undercover informant for the FBI many years ago, but was not working as an informant on Dec. 5, 2017.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Judge Chesney has yet to rule on whether or not Flatten can take the stand.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Brothers in blue?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Court filings show that the federal prosecution plans to focus on a single traffic stop — the one on Dec. 18, 2017, that Huffaker and Tatum conflated with Flatten’s stop on Dec. 5, 2017. However, more than two tons of cannabis were seized during the years that Tatum ran Rohnert Park’s interdiction task force.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Huffaker and Tatum pulled over Freeman on Dec. 29, 2016, and took 47 pounds of cannabis that he had grown legally in Mendocino County, for which he had documentation. The day after the stop, Freeman said he called Rohnert Park and spoke to Sgt. Eric Matzen, who assured him that he’d be able to get his property back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12046903\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12046903\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/250702-JOSEPHHUFFAKERTRIAL-05-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/250702-JOSEPHHUFFAKERTRIAL-05-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/250702-JOSEPHHUFFAKERTRIAL-05-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/250702-JOSEPHHUFFAKERTRIAL-05-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A sign for the Rohnert Park Police Station on July 2, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A few days later, Freeman’s attorney also contacted the city, but the department never returned his property, and his complaints were never investigated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I lived in terror for two years after that,” Freeman said. “They bankrupted me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Matzen is listed as a witness for the prosecution, along with a handful of other command staff and records personnel from the Rohnert Park Public Safety Department, including former chief Brian Masterson, who retired in the wake of the scandal.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Four other officers took part in cannabis seizures alongside Tatum: Matthew Snodgrass, Nicholas Miller, Chris Snyder and Chris Medina.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Snodgrass is now a lieutenant for Rohnert Park. Snyder and Miller are deputies with the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office. Medina worked for the Burlingame Police Department before returning to Rohnert Park, where he worked until 2021.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Initially, when Huffaker was set to go to trial in 2023, these men were on the prosecution’s witness list, court filings show. Now, if called, they will be witnesses for the defense.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Schwaiger said he hopes the outcome of this case sends the message “ to people who wear the uniform and the badge, that this is not a license to rob, to steal, to kill, to hurt people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Freeman said he will be attending the trial and hopes for a guilty verdict.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“ I feel bad about anybody that has to do time, but sometimes people deserve it,” he said. “I mean, they, really, really did incredible damage to a lot of people’s faith in law enforcement.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "exclusive-ex-rohnert-park-cop-faces-few-consequences-illegal-cannabis-grow",
"title": "Exclusive: Ex-Rohnert Park Cop Faces Few Consequences for Illegal Cannabis Grow",
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"headTitle": "Exclusive: Ex-Rohnert Park Cop Faces Few Consequences for Illegal Cannabis Grow | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/sonoma-county\">Sonoma County\u003c/a> code inspectors discovered a large illegal indoor cannabis operation on the property of former Rohnert Park Sgt. Brendan Jacy Tatum last year, according to records recently obtained by KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tatum is free on a $100,000 bond while awaiting sentencing for federal extortion, tax evasion and conspiracy charges connected to a string of marijuana seizures he conducted as a police officer, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11673412/highway-robbery-drivers-allege-rohnert-park-police-illegally-seized-cannabis-cash\">first reported by KQED in 2018\u003c/a>. Tatum \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11897845/ex-rohnert-park-cop-pleads-guilty-to-conspiracy-to-commit-extortion\">pleaded guilty\u003c/a> in 2021 and is expected to testify at the trial of Joseph Huffaker, his former partner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This looks bad, especially with my case being for the same issue,” Tatum told officials during the March 27, 2024, inspection, internal documents obtained by KQED show. “I made a mistake, I know. I’m just trying to make some money and get things squared away for my family before I go to prison.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tatum’s defense attorney, Stuart Hanlon, said his client was renting out a large barn on his multi-acre Santa Rosa property, but “he did not know they were growing pot.” According to Hanlon, Tatum “immediately reported” the enforcement action to his pretrial services officer, Josh Libby. In a phone call with a KQED reporter, Libby said he could not speak to the media. The United States Attorney’s office declined to comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The county cited both Tatum and his tenant, Kylie Bradley Hargis, for cannabis violations, documents show. Hargis could not immediately be reached for comment. Neither Hargis nor Tatum faced criminal action or further investigation, according to Sonoma County officials. Tatum paid a $7,500 fine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11897846\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11897846\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/12/IMG_8039-scaled-e1737145446662.jpg\" alt=\"A man wearing a face mask and business suit walks into a building.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sgt. Brendan “Jacy” Tatum walks into the Phillip Burton Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in San Francisco on Dec. 1, 2021. \u003ccite>(Sukey Lewis/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I personally know Tatum to have ruined the lives of dozens and dozens and dozens of marijuana farmers out there,” said defense and civil rights attorney Izaak Schwaiger, who represented many of Tatum’s victims. He said it is hard to see the lack of consequences as anything other than preferential treatment. “ At some point, the system has zero integrity if they refuse to follow through and put the hammer on this guy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is the latest twist in a legal saga that’s dragged on for years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beginning in 2013, Tatum was on Rohnert Park’s drug interdiction and civil asset forfeiture task force, which seized around $3.6 million and at least 2.5 tons of marijuana over five years. He was promoted to sergeant and honored as the “officer of the year” by Rohnert Park city leaders, even as whispers that Tatum \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11701249/ex-cops-credibility-is-key-question-in-federal-suit-against-rohnert-park\">didn’t play by the rules\u003c/a> began to mount.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_11889861 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/10/RS31332_IMG_2713-qut-1.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2018, KQED reported on the allegations of eight motorists who claimed Tatum and his partners had unlawfully seized marijuana and cash from them during pretextual traffic stops. The city ultimately paid over \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11802870/rohnert-park-payouts-set-to-top-1-8-million-over-marijuana-and-cash-seizures\">$1.8 million\u003c/a> in 2020 to settle a civil lawsuit with plaintiffs who alleged officers were acting like an organized crime ring by taking 330 pounds of marijuana from them and seizing $55,000.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2021, Tatum and Huffaker were \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11889861/ex-rohnert-park-cops-indicted-on-federal-extortion-conspiracy-charges-linked-to-marijuana-seizures\">indicted\u003c/a> by a federal grand jury for allegedly using their authority as police officers to extort people, taking large quantities of cannabis “without reporting or checking the seized property into evidence, or documenting or reporting the stop and seizure.” Huffaker has maintained his innocence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tatum and Huffaker were among the first former peace officers to be officially \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11890615/newsom-signs-law-to-strip-badges-from-bad-officers\">decertified under a California law\u003c/a> that went into effect in January 2023.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an email, Huffaker’s attorney said his client “looks forward to proving his innocence.” As part of Tatum’s plea deal, he is expected to testify against Huffaker at trial, which, after numerous delays, is scheduled to begin in July.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of Tatum’s victims, a Texas resident named Zeke Flatten, said it was hard to imagine how the former drug interdiction specialist could fail to notice cannabis cultivation on his own property. If federal prosecutors and pretrial services were notified and did nothing, Flatten said, “they betrayed me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I should have been made aware of this as a victim,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tatum’s lawyer said the March 27, 2024, inspection was the result of “ a complaint about a chicken coop” and that the discovery of the cannabis was incidental.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12023922\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12023922\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/250123-RohnertParkCop-02-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/250123-RohnertParkCop-02-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/250123-RohnertParkCop-02-BL-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/250123-RohnertParkCop-02-BL-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/250123-RohnertParkCop-02-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/250123-RohnertParkCop-02-BL-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/250123-RohnertParkCop-02-BL-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The property of Brendan “Jacy” Tatum, a former sergeant with the Rohnert Park Public Safety Department’s drug interdiction team, in Santa Rosa, California, on Jan. 23, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>However, the \u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/5452-HALL-RD-RETURN-W-PIC.pdf\">application (PDF)\u003c/a> for the warrant shows that code enforcement officer Todd Hoffman had acquired aerial footage of Tatum’s property and saw evidence of cannabis cultivation, including large AC units running on a “relatively cool [53 degrees Fahrenheit] spring morning.” He also noted obscured windows “presumably to stop the entry of light and create a vestibule entryway,” another hallmark of indoor cannabis cultivation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hoffman’s declaration details additional unpermitted construction, but it is largely focused on suspected cannabis violations. Hoffman cited Tatum’s federal conviction related to “a series of traffic stops and marijuana robberies” and attached Tatum’s federal indictment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sonoma County Superior Court Judge Shelly J. Averill signed the \u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/130-240-055-5452-HALL-RD-WARRANT.PDF.pdf\">inspection warrant (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Code enforcement officials were accompanied by a Sonoma County deputy sheriff to search Tatum’s Santa Rosa property. Tatum told inspectors that “the front barn was being rented out to an acquaintance for the purpose of growing cannabis,” according to documents, and that he did not have the key. The barn’s electricity was supplied through an unpermitted trench running from Tatum’s 6,000-square-foot agricultural structure.[aside postID=news_11802870 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/02/Rohnert-Park-Jacy-Tatum-Questionable-Marijaua-Cash-Seizures-Highway-101.jpg']“I could smell the strong odor of cannabis,” Hoffman noted in documents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At some point, Hargis arrived to let inspectors into the barn, where three rooms for cultivating cannabis had been constructed. \u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/130-240-055-5452-HALL-RD-DECLARATION.PDF.pdf\">Inspectors found (PDF)\u003c/a> about 500 plants growing in one of the rooms, documents show. A second room had “an abundance of black trash bags full of recently harvested and dried stems.” The third, smaller room contained four or five large “mother plants” for the purpose of cloning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I mean, you don’t have a thousand marijuana plants so that you can treat glaucoma,” said Schwaiger, who questioned why the county didn’t bring charges against Tatum.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Code enforcement manager Tyra Harrington said it’s county policy to treat cannabis cultivation as a land-use issue, not a criminal matter, even though state law still forbids the unlicensed commercial cultivation and sale of marijuana.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Harrington said her department does not investigate potential illicit cannabis sales or tax evasion issues. She pointed out that the sheriff was part of the inspection, and if they considered it “a criminal matter, they certainly would have taken action at the time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sgt. Juan Valencia, spokesperson for the sheriff’s office, said cannabis enforcement “has nothing to do with us” and that a deputy was present simply to provide security in case the property owner had guns or resisted in some way. He referred all questions to Harrington’s department.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office said in an email it did not receive “any police reports” about Tatum or Hargis’s cannabis violations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Mr. Tatum told me that he was growing cannabis for the money and as well as renting out the trailers for the money,” Harrington said. She said she had no interaction with Hargis. Tatum removed the plants within one day and paid the fine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Harrington said Tatum’s property is still out of compliance with other county codes. In March 2024, inspectors found a host of additional violations, including unpermitted barn extensions, electrical service to the agricultural barn and three travel trailers being used as housing. She said Tatum has been working with the code enforcement ombudsman and the building and planning department to try and bring everything into compliance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“ I’m not a big fan of locking people up in boxes,” Schwaiger said. “But I’m a lot less of a fan of the hypocrisy attendant to this kind of a case where you have someone charged with enforcing the law and who has put countless people in jail for the exact same thing now profiting off of it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That makes me want to puke.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Brendan Jacy Tatum pleaded guilty in 2021 to federal charges related to illegal seizures of weed and money, but is out of prison pending sentencing. In March 2024, Sonoma County officials found more than 500 cannabis plants growing in a barn on his property.",
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"title": "Exclusive: Ex-Rohnert Park Cop Faces Few Consequences for Illegal Cannabis Grow | KQED",
"description": "Brendan Jacy Tatum pleaded guilty in 2021 to federal charges related to illegal seizures of weed and money, but is out of prison pending sentencing. In March 2024, Sonoma County officials found more than 500 cannabis plants growing in a barn on his property.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/sonoma-county\">Sonoma County\u003c/a> code inspectors discovered a large illegal indoor cannabis operation on the property of former Rohnert Park Sgt. Brendan Jacy Tatum last year, according to records recently obtained by KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tatum is free on a $100,000 bond while awaiting sentencing for federal extortion, tax evasion and conspiracy charges connected to a string of marijuana seizures he conducted as a police officer, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11673412/highway-robbery-drivers-allege-rohnert-park-police-illegally-seized-cannabis-cash\">first reported by KQED in 2018\u003c/a>. Tatum \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11897845/ex-rohnert-park-cop-pleads-guilty-to-conspiracy-to-commit-extortion\">pleaded guilty\u003c/a> in 2021 and is expected to testify at the trial of Joseph Huffaker, his former partner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This looks bad, especially with my case being for the same issue,” Tatum told officials during the March 27, 2024, inspection, internal documents obtained by KQED show. “I made a mistake, I know. I’m just trying to make some money and get things squared away for my family before I go to prison.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tatum’s defense attorney, Stuart Hanlon, said his client was renting out a large barn on his multi-acre Santa Rosa property, but “he did not know they were growing pot.” According to Hanlon, Tatum “immediately reported” the enforcement action to his pretrial services officer, Josh Libby. In a phone call with a KQED reporter, Libby said he could not speak to the media. The United States Attorney’s office declined to comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The county cited both Tatum and his tenant, Kylie Bradley Hargis, for cannabis violations, documents show. Hargis could not immediately be reached for comment. Neither Hargis nor Tatum faced criminal action or further investigation, according to Sonoma County officials. Tatum paid a $7,500 fine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11897846\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11897846\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/12/IMG_8039-scaled-e1737145446662.jpg\" alt=\"A man wearing a face mask and business suit walks into a building.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sgt. Brendan “Jacy” Tatum walks into the Phillip Burton Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in San Francisco on Dec. 1, 2021. \u003ccite>(Sukey Lewis/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I personally know Tatum to have ruined the lives of dozens and dozens and dozens of marijuana farmers out there,” said defense and civil rights attorney Izaak Schwaiger, who represented many of Tatum’s victims. He said it is hard to see the lack of consequences as anything other than preferential treatment. “ At some point, the system has zero integrity if they refuse to follow through and put the hammer on this guy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is the latest twist in a legal saga that’s dragged on for years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beginning in 2013, Tatum was on Rohnert Park’s drug interdiction and civil asset forfeiture task force, which seized around $3.6 million and at least 2.5 tons of marijuana over five years. He was promoted to sergeant and honored as the “officer of the year” by Rohnert Park city leaders, even as whispers that Tatum \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11701249/ex-cops-credibility-is-key-question-in-federal-suit-against-rohnert-park\">didn’t play by the rules\u003c/a> began to mount.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2018, KQED reported on the allegations of eight motorists who claimed Tatum and his partners had unlawfully seized marijuana and cash from them during pretextual traffic stops. The city ultimately paid over \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11802870/rohnert-park-payouts-set-to-top-1-8-million-over-marijuana-and-cash-seizures\">$1.8 million\u003c/a> in 2020 to settle a civil lawsuit with plaintiffs who alleged officers were acting like an organized crime ring by taking 330 pounds of marijuana from them and seizing $55,000.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2021, Tatum and Huffaker were \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11889861/ex-rohnert-park-cops-indicted-on-federal-extortion-conspiracy-charges-linked-to-marijuana-seizures\">indicted\u003c/a> by a federal grand jury for allegedly using their authority as police officers to extort people, taking large quantities of cannabis “without reporting or checking the seized property into evidence, or documenting or reporting the stop and seizure.” Huffaker has maintained his innocence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tatum and Huffaker were among the first former peace officers to be officially \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11890615/newsom-signs-law-to-strip-badges-from-bad-officers\">decertified under a California law\u003c/a> that went into effect in January 2023.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an email, Huffaker’s attorney said his client “looks forward to proving his innocence.” As part of Tatum’s plea deal, he is expected to testify against Huffaker at trial, which, after numerous delays, is scheduled to begin in July.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of Tatum’s victims, a Texas resident named Zeke Flatten, said it was hard to imagine how the former drug interdiction specialist could fail to notice cannabis cultivation on his own property. If federal prosecutors and pretrial services were notified and did nothing, Flatten said, “they betrayed me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I should have been made aware of this as a victim,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tatum’s lawyer said the March 27, 2024, inspection was the result of “ a complaint about a chicken coop” and that the discovery of the cannabis was incidental.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12023922\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12023922\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/250123-RohnertParkCop-02-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/250123-RohnertParkCop-02-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/250123-RohnertParkCop-02-BL-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/250123-RohnertParkCop-02-BL-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/250123-RohnertParkCop-02-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/250123-RohnertParkCop-02-BL-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/250123-RohnertParkCop-02-BL-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The property of Brendan “Jacy” Tatum, a former sergeant with the Rohnert Park Public Safety Department’s drug interdiction team, in Santa Rosa, California, on Jan. 23, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>However, the \u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/5452-HALL-RD-RETURN-W-PIC.pdf\">application (PDF)\u003c/a> for the warrant shows that code enforcement officer Todd Hoffman had acquired aerial footage of Tatum’s property and saw evidence of cannabis cultivation, including large AC units running on a “relatively cool [53 degrees Fahrenheit] spring morning.” He also noted obscured windows “presumably to stop the entry of light and create a vestibule entryway,” another hallmark of indoor cannabis cultivation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hoffman’s declaration details additional unpermitted construction, but it is largely focused on suspected cannabis violations. Hoffman cited Tatum’s federal conviction related to “a series of traffic stops and marijuana robberies” and attached Tatum’s federal indictment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sonoma County Superior Court Judge Shelly J. Averill signed the \u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/130-240-055-5452-HALL-RD-WARRANT.PDF.pdf\">inspection warrant (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Code enforcement officials were accompanied by a Sonoma County deputy sheriff to search Tatum’s Santa Rosa property. Tatum told inspectors that “the front barn was being rented out to an acquaintance for the purpose of growing cannabis,” according to documents, and that he did not have the key. The barn’s electricity was supplied through an unpermitted trench running from Tatum’s 6,000-square-foot agricultural structure.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“I could smell the strong odor of cannabis,” Hoffman noted in documents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At some point, Hargis arrived to let inspectors into the barn, where three rooms for cultivating cannabis had been constructed. \u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/130-240-055-5452-HALL-RD-DECLARATION.PDF.pdf\">Inspectors found (PDF)\u003c/a> about 500 plants growing in one of the rooms, documents show. A second room had “an abundance of black trash bags full of recently harvested and dried stems.” The third, smaller room contained four or five large “mother plants” for the purpose of cloning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I mean, you don’t have a thousand marijuana plants so that you can treat glaucoma,” said Schwaiger, who questioned why the county didn’t bring charges against Tatum.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Code enforcement manager Tyra Harrington said it’s county policy to treat cannabis cultivation as a land-use issue, not a criminal matter, even though state law still forbids the unlicensed commercial cultivation and sale of marijuana.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Harrington said her department does not investigate potential illicit cannabis sales or tax evasion issues. She pointed out that the sheriff was part of the inspection, and if they considered it “a criminal matter, they certainly would have taken action at the time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sgt. Juan Valencia, spokesperson for the sheriff’s office, said cannabis enforcement “has nothing to do with us” and that a deputy was present simply to provide security in case the property owner had guns or resisted in some way. He referred all questions to Harrington’s department.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office said in an email it did not receive “any police reports” about Tatum or Hargis’s cannabis violations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Mr. Tatum told me that he was growing cannabis for the money and as well as renting out the trailers for the money,” Harrington said. She said she had no interaction with Hargis. Tatum removed the plants within one day and paid the fine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Harrington said Tatum’s property is still out of compliance with other county codes. In March 2024, inspectors found a host of additional violations, including unpermitted barn extensions, electrical service to the agricultural barn and three travel trailers being used as housing. She said Tatum has been working with the code enforcement ombudsman and the building and planning department to try and bring everything into compliance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“ I’m not a big fan of locking people up in boxes,” Schwaiger said. “But I’m a lot less of a fan of the hypocrisy attendant to this kind of a case where you have someone charged with enforcing the law and who has put countless people in jail for the exact same thing now profiting off of it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That makes me want to puke.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"disqusTitle": "Ex-Rohnert Park Cops Indicted on Federal Extortion, Conspiracy Charges Linked to Marijuana Seizures",
"title": "Ex-Rohnert Park Cops Indicted on Federal Extortion, Conspiracy Charges Linked to Marijuana Seizures",
"headTitle": "KQED News",
"content": "\u003cp>Two former Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety police officers were arraigned Friday on federal charges including extortion and conspiracy in connection with marijuana seizures made in 2016 and 2017. Both officers entered not guilty pleas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2018, KQED first reported on a string of motorists who alleged then-Sgt. Brendan Jacy Tatum and his partner Joseph Huffaker unlawfully seized marijuana or cash from them during traffic stops along Highway 101.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both Tatum and Huffaker are currently out of custody on bail, and the arraignment took place via Zoom due to COVID-19 restrictions, with U.S. Magistrate Judge Sallie Kim presiding. The charges they face come with a maximum sentence of 60 to 65 years if served consecutively.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/TatumHuffakerIndictment.pdf\">indictment\u003c/a> handed down by a federal grand jury on Tuesday alleges that the two abused their power as police officers to extort people during traffic stops by “claiming to be ATF [Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives] agents, threatening to arrest drivers” and then seizing their marijuana “without reporting or checking the seized property into evidence, or documenting or reporting the stop and seizure.”\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"alignright\">\n\u003ch4 style=\"text-align: center\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11673412/highway-robbery-drivers-allege-rohnert-park-police-illegally-seized-cannabis-cash\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"color: #000000\">'Highway Robbery': Drivers Allege Rohnert Park Police Illegally Seized Cannabis, Cash\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003c/h4>\n\u003cfigure>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11673412/highway-robbery-drivers-allege-rohnert-park-police-illegally-seized-cannabis-cash\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cimg src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/RS31344_IMG_3493-qut.jpg\" alt=\"\">\u003c/a>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: left\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11673412/highway-robbery-drivers-allege-rohnert-park-police-illegally-seized-cannabis-cash\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Read KQED's 2018 investigation\u003c/a>: Nine drivers and several attorneys say Rohnert Park police officers have repeatedly conducted questionable traffic stops and illegally seized cash and marijuana.\u003c/p>\n\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>Tatum’s lawyer declined to comment. Huffaker’s attorney, Heather Phillips, said in an email that she looks forward to presenting her defense “so that the entire story can be revealed and Mr. Huffaker's name can be cleared. He did not do this and we are confident that a neutral jury will see that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is easy to get an indictment, as the defendant and his attorney are not allowed to take part in the grand jury proceedings,” Phillips said. “It is solely a one-sided presentation of the prosecution's case, and the burden of proof is very low.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The indictment details six traffic stops Tatum made in 2016, either with Huffaker or with another officer, while he was head of a drug interdiction task force. These stops were recorded on police body cameras, but they were never documented in incident reports, according to the indictment. The indictment also says Tatum also failed to get destruction orders for the approximately 60 pounds of marijuana seized during the stops.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11678122/documentation-missing-for-at-least-800-pounds-of-marijuana-seized-by-rohnert-park-police\">In 2018, KQED reported that destruction orders were missing for hundreds of pounds of marijuana seized by Rohnert Park officers.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After the interdiction team was discontinued in late 2017, Tatum and Huffaker continued to seize marijuana from motorists, according to the indictment, but during this time they were out of uniform and posing as ATF agents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The indictment alleges that the two would then sell the seized marijuana for cash.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tatum also faces tax evasion charges. The indictment alleges that he used cash to buy cashier’s checks for the purchase a $46,835 fishing boat, and that he and his family members deposited a total of $396,224 in various bank accounts in increments of less than $10,000 that were never reported as taxable income. Bank deposits of $10,000 and up are automatically reported to the federal government.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tatum left the Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety in June 2018 after KQED reported on the allegations against him. The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11681642/rohnert-park-police-chief-to-retire-amid-questions-over-seized-marijuana-and-cash\">police chief\u003c/a> and a number of Tatum’s supervisors also retired that same year. Huffaker left the department in early 2019 under the conditions of a settlement agreement he reached with the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Another lawsuit is filed\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Zeke Flatten, the motorist who first came forward to independent reporter Kym Kemp in 2018 to say he had been robbed by police officers posing as ATF agents, filed a new lawsuit this month alleging that the conspiracy to seize and sell marijuana went far beyond Tatum and Huffaker.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=\"news_11864589,news_11678122,news_11681642,news_11706921\" hero=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/RS31346_IMG_3556-1200x800.jpg\" heroLink=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/highway-robbery-series\" target=\"_blank\" label=\"More From 'Highway Robbery' Series\"]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Flatten has long maintained that Tatum was not present when he was stopped on Dec. 5, 2017. The suit alleges that the man with Huffaker that day was actually a Mendocino County sheriff’s sergeant in charge of the county’s marijuana enforcement team named Bruce Smith.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The suit alleges that on Dec. 22, 2017, Smith also seized 1,875 pounds of marijuana worth nearly $2 million from a “legally licensed distributor,” but “the seized cannabis has disappeared with no records proving it was destroyed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Three other plaintiffs are suing Mendocino County along with Flatten. They similarly allege that marijuana was taken from them illegally by Smith and by a California Department of Fish and Wildlife officer named Steven White.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Finally, the suit alleges that the defendants, who include the Mendocino sheriff and the district attorney, were operating as an organized criminal enterprise under the RICO Act, an anti-racketeering law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lawyers for the defendants all have moved to dismiss the case arguing that the evidence cited by Flatten and his fellow plaintiffs doesn’t meet the high bar required for a RICO case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lawyers for the county also pointed out that on Dec. 4, 2017, Smith began working for the Lake County district attorney and so could not have been acting for Mendocino even if he was involved in the Dec. 5 stop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a motion to dismiss, lawyers for White argued that there was nothing to connect him to the Flatten stop and that the other plaintiffs can’t sue him again because they are already suing him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year, the city of Rohnert Park settled with Flatten and a number of other accusers for around $1.8 million.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "In 2018, KQED first reported on a string of motorists who alleged then-Sgt. Brendan Jacy Tatum and his partner, Joseph Huffaker, unlawfully seized marijuana or cash from them during traffic stops along Highway 101.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Two former Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety police officers were arraigned Friday on federal charges including extortion and conspiracy in connection with marijuana seizures made in 2016 and 2017. Both officers entered not guilty pleas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2018, KQED first reported on a string of motorists who alleged then-Sgt. Brendan Jacy Tatum and his partner Joseph Huffaker unlawfully seized marijuana or cash from them during traffic stops along Highway 101.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both Tatum and Huffaker are currently out of custody on bail, and the arraignment took place via Zoom due to COVID-19 restrictions, with U.S. Magistrate Judge Sallie Kim presiding. The charges they face come with a maximum sentence of 60 to 65 years if served consecutively.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/TatumHuffakerIndictment.pdf\">indictment\u003c/a> handed down by a federal grand jury on Tuesday alleges that the two abused their power as police officers to extort people during traffic stops by “claiming to be ATF [Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives] agents, threatening to arrest drivers” and then seizing their marijuana “without reporting or checking the seized property into evidence, or documenting or reporting the stop and seizure.”\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"alignright\">\n\u003ch4 style=\"text-align: center\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11673412/highway-robbery-drivers-allege-rohnert-park-police-illegally-seized-cannabis-cash\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"color: #000000\">'Highway Robbery': Drivers Allege Rohnert Park Police Illegally Seized Cannabis, Cash\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003c/h4>\n\u003cfigure>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11673412/highway-robbery-drivers-allege-rohnert-park-police-illegally-seized-cannabis-cash\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cimg src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/RS31344_IMG_3493-qut.jpg\" alt=\"\">\u003c/a>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: left\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11673412/highway-robbery-drivers-allege-rohnert-park-police-illegally-seized-cannabis-cash\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Read KQED's 2018 investigation\u003c/a>: Nine drivers and several attorneys say Rohnert Park police officers have repeatedly conducted questionable traffic stops and illegally seized cash and marijuana.\u003c/p>\n\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>Tatum’s lawyer declined to comment. Huffaker’s attorney, Heather Phillips, said in an email that she looks forward to presenting her defense “so that the entire story can be revealed and Mr. Huffaker's name can be cleared. He did not do this and we are confident that a neutral jury will see that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is easy to get an indictment, as the defendant and his attorney are not allowed to take part in the grand jury proceedings,” Phillips said. “It is solely a one-sided presentation of the prosecution's case, and the burden of proof is very low.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The indictment details six traffic stops Tatum made in 2016, either with Huffaker or with another officer, while he was head of a drug interdiction task force. These stops were recorded on police body cameras, but they were never documented in incident reports, according to the indictment. The indictment also says Tatum also failed to get destruction orders for the approximately 60 pounds of marijuana seized during the stops.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11678122/documentation-missing-for-at-least-800-pounds-of-marijuana-seized-by-rohnert-park-police\">In 2018, KQED reported that destruction orders were missing for hundreds of pounds of marijuana seized by Rohnert Park officers.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After the interdiction team was discontinued in late 2017, Tatum and Huffaker continued to seize marijuana from motorists, according to the indictment, but during this time they were out of uniform and posing as ATF agents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The indictment alleges that the two would then sell the seized marijuana for cash.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tatum also faces tax evasion charges. The indictment alleges that he used cash to buy cashier’s checks for the purchase a $46,835 fishing boat, and that he and his family members deposited a total of $396,224 in various bank accounts in increments of less than $10,000 that were never reported as taxable income. Bank deposits of $10,000 and up are automatically reported to the federal government.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tatum left the Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety in June 2018 after KQED reported on the allegations against him. The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11681642/rohnert-park-police-chief-to-retire-amid-questions-over-seized-marijuana-and-cash\">police chief\u003c/a> and a number of Tatum’s supervisors also retired that same year. Huffaker left the department in early 2019 under the conditions of a settlement agreement he reached with the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Another lawsuit is filed\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Zeke Flatten, the motorist who first came forward to independent reporter Kym Kemp in 2018 to say he had been robbed by police officers posing as ATF agents, filed a new lawsuit this month alleging that the conspiracy to seize and sell marijuana went far beyond Tatum and Huffaker.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Flatten has long maintained that Tatum was not present when he was stopped on Dec. 5, 2017. The suit alleges that the man with Huffaker that day was actually a Mendocino County sheriff’s sergeant in charge of the county’s marijuana enforcement team named Bruce Smith.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The suit alleges that on Dec. 22, 2017, Smith also seized 1,875 pounds of marijuana worth nearly $2 million from a “legally licensed distributor,” but “the seized cannabis has disappeared with no records proving it was destroyed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Three other plaintiffs are suing Mendocino County along with Flatten. They similarly allege that marijuana was taken from them illegally by Smith and by a California Department of Fish and Wildlife officer named Steven White.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Finally, the suit alleges that the defendants, who include the Mendocino sheriff and the district attorney, were operating as an organized criminal enterprise under the RICO Act, an anti-racketeering law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lawyers for the defendants all have moved to dismiss the case arguing that the evidence cited by Flatten and his fellow plaintiffs doesn’t meet the high bar required for a RICO case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lawyers for the county also pointed out that on Dec. 4, 2017, Smith began working for the Lake County district attorney and so could not have been acting for Mendocino even if he was involved in the Dec. 5 stop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a motion to dismiss, lawyers for White argued that there was nothing to connect him to the Flatten stop and that the other plaintiffs can’t sue him again because they are already suing him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year, the city of Rohnert Park settled with Flatten and a number of other accusers for around $1.8 million.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"disqusTitle": "Former Rohnert Park Cops Accused of ‘Highway Robbery’ Face Federal Charges",
"title": "Former Rohnert Park Cops Accused of ‘Highway Robbery’ Face Federal Charges",
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"content": "\u003cp>Two former Rohnert Park police officers are facing federal corruption charges of conspiracy, extortion, falsification of records and tax evasion, all tied to an alleged years-long scheme to pull over and rob people of cash and marijuana.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brendon Jacy Tatum and Joseph Huffaker were assigned to Rohnert Park’s drug interdiction team at various times between 2015 and 2017, according to a federal criminal complaint unsealed Friday. The program was aimed at seizing illegal drugs and cash proceeds trafficked along the Highway 101 corridor. Over about four years, Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety officers seized $3.6 million and 2½ tons of marijuana, according to an \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11735983/probe-into-rohnert-park-cannabis-and-cash-seizures-will-stay-secret-despite-transparency-law\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">analysis\u003c/a> of records from the program.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"alignright\">\n\u003ch4 style=\"text-align: center\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11673412/highway-robbery-drivers-allege-rohnert-park-police-illegally-seized-cannabis-cash\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"color: #000000\">‘Highway Robbery’: Drivers Allege Rohnert Park Police Illegally Seized Cannabis, Cash\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003c/h4>\n\u003cfigure>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11673412/highway-robbery-drivers-allege-rohnert-park-police-illegally-seized-cannabis-cash\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cimg src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/RS31344_IMG_3493-qut.jpg\" alt=\"\">\u003c/a>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: left\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11673412/highway-robbery-drivers-allege-rohnert-park-police-illegally-seized-cannabis-cash\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Read KQED's 2018 investigation\u003c/a>: Nine drivers and several attorneys say Rohnert Park police officers have repeatedly conducted questionable traffic stops and illegally seized cash and marijuana.\u003c/p>\n\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>Cities and police departments can legally take people’s money and seize property if it’s tied to illegal activity through a process called civil asset forfeiture. The department gets to keep a cut of whatever they take, providing a monetary incentive to confiscate cash and make narcotics busts. Former Sgt. Jacy Tatum was in charge of the drug interdiction team and supervised asset forfeiture, according to the complaint.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But not everything that Tatum and Huffaker seized was legal, the complaint alleges. A number of motorists had paperwork to prove they were transporting legal cannabis for testing or to medical marijuana dispensaries. But the officers took their cannabis product or cash anyway, and in some cases failed to properly document those seizures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The federal criminal complaint alleges that Tatum extorted at least $3,700 in cash and “significant amounts of marijuana,” and was aided by Huffaker in at least one of the illegal stops.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Tatum and other officers made no reports of the seizure, did not submit the marijuana or assets into evidence, and sought no destruction orders for the marijuana,” a press release from the Northern California U.S. Attorney’s Office says.\u003cbr>\n[ad fullwidth]\u003cbr>\nA KQED investigation in 2018 found that documentation for the destruction of about \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11678122/documentation-missing-for-at-least-800-pounds-of-marijuana-seized-by-rohnert-park-police\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">800 pounds of marijuana seized by Rohnert Park officers was missing\u003c/a> from court files.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Federal prosecutors charge that Tatum and Huffaker continued extorting motorists even after Rohnert Park ended its drug interdiction program in 2017.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In December of that year, two men allegedly impersonated agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives when they pulled over Texas resident Zeke Flatten about 50 miles North of Rohnert Park and across the Mendocino County line. The FBI is charging Tatum and Huffaker in connection with this stop. Flatten said that Huffaker was there but Tatum was not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The officers didn’t identify themselves, but they took about $3,000 worth of marijuana Flatten was driving from a farm in Humboldt County to a lab in Santa Rosa, according to the complaint.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Flatten didn’t go quietly. He reported the stop to Mendocino County law enforcement and the FBI. By early 2018, he’d also told his story to independent reporter Kym Kemp, who started \u003ca href=\"https://kymkemp.com/2018/02/11/outraged-one-mans-two-month-quest-from-the-fbi-to-the-atf-to-expose-what-he-says-are-corrupt-police-officers-in-mendocino-county/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">asking questions\u003c/a>.[aside postID=\"news_11678122,news_11681642,news_11706921\" hero=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/RS31346_IMG_3556-1200x800.jpg\" heroLink=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/highway-robbery-series\" target=\"_blank\" label=\"More From 'Highway Robbery' Series\"]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tatum drafted a press release on Feb. 13, 2018, months after the Flatten stop, touting a large “black market” marijuana bust by Rohnert Park police. Tatum “then prepared a false police report to conceal his criminal activity,” according to federal prosecutors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Prior to February 13, 2018, TATUM told Commander J.T. that there was a female reporter up north writing articles linking a stop to the Mendocino County Sheriff’s office and the Hopland Tribal police,” the criminal complaint says. “Tatum clarified that it was actually an interdiction stop conducted by RPDPS and that he wanted to correctly identify the law enforcement agency responsible for the stop.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tatum didn’t write a police report on the Dec. 5 seizure until Feb. 20, and he recorded the amount of marijuana and other details from a different case in that report. The FBI’s investigation found probable cause that Tatum “falsified a report for the undocumented stop and seizure of marijuana from (Flatten) in order to conceal his and HUFFAKER’s actions during the stop and deflect negative media attention.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Flatten said Friday that he hoped the federal prosecution would prompt officers to “come clean” and hold each other accountable for “the dishonor they did to themselves and their badge and their community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These guys are not going to get away with what they were doing,” he added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After Flatten’s case became public, more drivers started to come forward with accounts of shady encounters with Rohnert Park officers intent on seizing cash and marijuana during pretextual traffic stops. KQED and Kemp spoke to a total of nine people with similar stories in a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11673412/highway-robbery-drivers-allege-rohnert-park-police-illegally-seized-cannabis-cash\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">collaborative investigative report\u003c/a> published in summer of 2018.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The criminal complaint details six traffic stops, four from 2016, the Flatten case, and another stop about two weeks later, on Dec. 18, 2017.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tatum can be heard on body camera video telling one driver “there is no such thing as easy money” before the former officer illegally seized $3,700 in cash and $22,400 in marijuana, according to the complaint. Other than Huffaker, the charging document conceals the identities of other Rohnert Park officers who were with Tatum during the stops.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Huedell Freeman was pulled over by the officers a year before Flatten, in December 2016. They took 47 pounds of medical cannabis from him. Now, he said he feels very satisfied with the announcement of criminal charges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I did not have any idea that this journey would end up where it did,” he said. “I feel vindicated.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Flatten, Freeman, and seven other drivers sued Rohnert Park and all won settlements in the past year, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11802870/rohnert-park-payouts-set-to-top-1-8-million-over-marijuana-and-cash-seizures\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">totaling $1.8 million\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tatum and Huffaker are both charged with conspiracy to commit extortion under color of official right, which carries a maximum 20-year prison sentence. Tatum is further charged with falsifying records in a federal investigation and tax evasion, which carry a combined 25-year maximum sentence.[aside postID=\"news_11702984,news_11701249,news_11700572\" heroLink=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/highway-robbery-series\" target=\"_blank\" label=\"More on Ex-Sgt. Jacy Tatum\"]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Prosecutors allege that in 2016, Tatum deposited hundreds of thousands of dollars into his and his wife’s bank accounts and bought a $46,000 fishing boat, totaling over $440,000 that wasn’t reported on the former officer’s tax returns. The cash deposits were all in amounts under $10,000, “in an apparent attempt to avoid banking laws requiring disclosure,” according to prosecutors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tatum’s cash deposits “decreased significantly” after he resigned from the Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety in 2018, according to the complaint.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There's no greater responsibility for law enforcement than to abide by the oath of office and respect the constitutional rights of all people,” said Sid Patel, assistant special agent in charge for the FBI's San Francisco office. “And this was a serious breach of public trust.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rohnert Park city officials issued a statement saying that they cooperated with the FBI investigation and that they “do not tolerate” corruption among their police staff.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Flatten alleges that the scheme went beyond the two officers who are now facing charges. He said his hope is that Tatum and Huffaker cooperate with the investigation and expose other co-conspirators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They owe that to their own community because it definitely does go much higher than them,” Flatten said. “And there are more people that should be held accountable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "One officer, Brendon Jacy Tatum, faces charges of falsifying a police report and tax evasion of alleged proceeds from 'significant amounts of marijuana' that he seized but kept off the books.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Two former Rohnert Park police officers are facing federal corruption charges of conspiracy, extortion, falsification of records and tax evasion, all tied to an alleged years-long scheme to pull over and rob people of cash and marijuana.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brendon Jacy Tatum and Joseph Huffaker were assigned to Rohnert Park’s drug interdiction team at various times between 2015 and 2017, according to a federal criminal complaint unsealed Friday. The program was aimed at seizing illegal drugs and cash proceeds trafficked along the Highway 101 corridor. Over about four years, Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety officers seized $3.6 million and 2½ tons of marijuana, according to an \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11735983/probe-into-rohnert-park-cannabis-and-cash-seizures-will-stay-secret-despite-transparency-law\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">analysis\u003c/a> of records from the program.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"alignright\">\n\u003ch4 style=\"text-align: center\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11673412/highway-robbery-drivers-allege-rohnert-park-police-illegally-seized-cannabis-cash\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"color: #000000\">‘Highway Robbery’: Drivers Allege Rohnert Park Police Illegally Seized Cannabis, Cash\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003c/h4>\n\u003cfigure>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11673412/highway-robbery-drivers-allege-rohnert-park-police-illegally-seized-cannabis-cash\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cimg src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/RS31344_IMG_3493-qut.jpg\" alt=\"\">\u003c/a>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: left\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11673412/highway-robbery-drivers-allege-rohnert-park-police-illegally-seized-cannabis-cash\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Read KQED's 2018 investigation\u003c/a>: Nine drivers and several attorneys say Rohnert Park police officers have repeatedly conducted questionable traffic stops and illegally seized cash and marijuana.\u003c/p>\n\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>Cities and police departments can legally take people’s money and seize property if it’s tied to illegal activity through a process called civil asset forfeiture. The department gets to keep a cut of whatever they take, providing a monetary incentive to confiscate cash and make narcotics busts. Former Sgt. Jacy Tatum was in charge of the drug interdiction team and supervised asset forfeiture, according to the complaint.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But not everything that Tatum and Huffaker seized was legal, the complaint alleges. A number of motorists had paperwork to prove they were transporting legal cannabis for testing or to medical marijuana dispensaries. But the officers took their cannabis product or cash anyway, and in some cases failed to properly document those seizures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The federal criminal complaint alleges that Tatum extorted at least $3,700 in cash and “significant amounts of marijuana,” and was aided by Huffaker in at least one of the illegal stops.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Tatum and other officers made no reports of the seizure, did not submit the marijuana or assets into evidence, and sought no destruction orders for the marijuana,” a press release from the Northern California U.S. Attorney’s Office says.\u003cbr>\n\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cbr>\nA KQED investigation in 2018 found that documentation for the destruction of about \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11678122/documentation-missing-for-at-least-800-pounds-of-marijuana-seized-by-rohnert-park-police\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">800 pounds of marijuana seized by Rohnert Park officers was missing\u003c/a> from court files.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Federal prosecutors charge that Tatum and Huffaker continued extorting motorists even after Rohnert Park ended its drug interdiction program in 2017.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In December of that year, two men allegedly impersonated agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives when they pulled over Texas resident Zeke Flatten about 50 miles North of Rohnert Park and across the Mendocino County line. The FBI is charging Tatum and Huffaker in connection with this stop. Flatten said that Huffaker was there but Tatum was not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The officers didn’t identify themselves, but they took about $3,000 worth of marijuana Flatten was driving from a farm in Humboldt County to a lab in Santa Rosa, according to the complaint.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Flatten didn’t go quietly. He reported the stop to Mendocino County law enforcement and the FBI. By early 2018, he’d also told his story to independent reporter Kym Kemp, who started \u003ca href=\"https://kymkemp.com/2018/02/11/outraged-one-mans-two-month-quest-from-the-fbi-to-the-atf-to-expose-what-he-says-are-corrupt-police-officers-in-mendocino-county/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">asking questions\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tatum drafted a press release on Feb. 13, 2018, months after the Flatten stop, touting a large “black market” marijuana bust by Rohnert Park police. Tatum “then prepared a false police report to conceal his criminal activity,” according to federal prosecutors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Prior to February 13, 2018, TATUM told Commander J.T. that there was a female reporter up north writing articles linking a stop to the Mendocino County Sheriff’s office and the Hopland Tribal police,” the criminal complaint says. “Tatum clarified that it was actually an interdiction stop conducted by RPDPS and that he wanted to correctly identify the law enforcement agency responsible for the stop.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tatum didn’t write a police report on the Dec. 5 seizure until Feb. 20, and he recorded the amount of marijuana and other details from a different case in that report. The FBI’s investigation found probable cause that Tatum “falsified a report for the undocumented stop and seizure of marijuana from (Flatten) in order to conceal his and HUFFAKER’s actions during the stop and deflect negative media attention.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Flatten said Friday that he hoped the federal prosecution would prompt officers to “come clean” and hold each other accountable for “the dishonor they did to themselves and their badge and their community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These guys are not going to get away with what they were doing,” he added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After Flatten’s case became public, more drivers started to come forward with accounts of shady encounters with Rohnert Park officers intent on seizing cash and marijuana during pretextual traffic stops. KQED and Kemp spoke to a total of nine people with similar stories in a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11673412/highway-robbery-drivers-allege-rohnert-park-police-illegally-seized-cannabis-cash\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">collaborative investigative report\u003c/a> published in summer of 2018.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The criminal complaint details six traffic stops, four from 2016, the Flatten case, and another stop about two weeks later, on Dec. 18, 2017.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tatum can be heard on body camera video telling one driver “there is no such thing as easy money” before the former officer illegally seized $3,700 in cash and $22,400 in marijuana, according to the complaint. Other than Huffaker, the charging document conceals the identities of other Rohnert Park officers who were with Tatum during the stops.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Huedell Freeman was pulled over by the officers a year before Flatten, in December 2016. They took 47 pounds of medical cannabis from him. Now, he said he feels very satisfied with the announcement of criminal charges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I did not have any idea that this journey would end up where it did,” he said. “I feel vindicated.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Flatten, Freeman, and seven other drivers sued Rohnert Park and all won settlements in the past year, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11802870/rohnert-park-payouts-set-to-top-1-8-million-over-marijuana-and-cash-seizures\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">totaling $1.8 million\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tatum and Huffaker are both charged with conspiracy to commit extortion under color of official right, which carries a maximum 20-year prison sentence. Tatum is further charged with falsifying records in a federal investigation and tax evasion, which carry a combined 25-year maximum sentence.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Prosecutors allege that in 2016, Tatum deposited hundreds of thousands of dollars into his and his wife’s bank accounts and bought a $46,000 fishing boat, totaling over $440,000 that wasn’t reported on the former officer’s tax returns. The cash deposits were all in amounts under $10,000, “in an apparent attempt to avoid banking laws requiring disclosure,” according to prosecutors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tatum’s cash deposits “decreased significantly” after he resigned from the Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety in 2018, according to the complaint.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There's no greater responsibility for law enforcement than to abide by the oath of office and respect the constitutional rights of all people,” said Sid Patel, assistant special agent in charge for the FBI's San Francisco office. “And this was a serious breach of public trust.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rohnert Park city officials issued a statement saying that they cooperated with the FBI investigation and that they “do not tolerate” corruption among their police staff.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Flatten alleges that the scheme went beyond the two officers who are now facing charges. He said his hope is that Tatum and Huffaker cooperate with the investigation and expose other co-conspirators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They owe that to their own community because it definitely does go much higher than them,” Flatten said. “And there are more people that should be held accountable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "'Slammed': Many California Casinos Are Still Open, and Some Workers Are Worried",
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"headTitle": "‘Slammed’: Many California Casinos Are Still Open, and Some Workers Are Worried | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>As California continues to grapple with a worsening winter surge of COVID-19 cases, some businesses remain able to operate outside the purview of state shutdown orders aimed to protect public health during the pandemic. Tribal resorts and casinos in California operate under federal law on federally protected sovereign land known as rancherias – so they’re not required to comply with orders issued by Gov. Newsom or county officials.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Graton Resort and Casino, located on tribal land in Rohnert Park, came under criticism for announcing that it would host a 4,000-person New Year’s Eve party. After a public-shaming, the Sonoma County casino \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/local-politics/article/Sonoma-casino-cancels-controversial-indoor-New-15827599.php\">canceled the event\u003c/a> last week and “apologized for any inconvenience” in a statement online.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sonoma County Public Health Officer Sundari Mase recently \u003ca href=\"https://abc7news.com/graton-casino-new-years-eve-2020-party-sonoma-county-coronavirus/9042379/\">told ABC7 News\u003c/a> the department was working with the casino to mitigate risk, “in terms of limiting indoor capacity to 20% of what’s normal, in terms of enforcing facial coverings or masks and social distancing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the casino may not be adhering to that 20% capacity threshold, according to some employees who say their employer’s practices make them fear for their safety.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At a poker table, we’re sitting seven players, plus a dealer. That’s eight people sitting at a table that’s 6 feet long,” said an employee of the Graton Resort and Casino who asked to remain anonymous for fear of losing his job.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Graton Resort and Casino employee\"]‘It’s scary … I don’t even understand why we’re open, honestly.’[/pullquote]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The employee, who has worked there for several years, told KQED the casino was “slammed” the last week of December. As the coronavirus surged through the state and regional businesses limited their capacity or shut down entirely, poker players continued traveling to the few places still open.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They all started traveling up here,” he said, adding that many players are traveling over two hours to spend the day playing poker. “We’re sitting with these people for eight hours a day. They’re playing 10, 12 hours a day in the same room with the same seats, the same people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While players are required to have masks on inside and cannot eat at the poker table, they’re allowed to smoke and can sit in the food court and eat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s scary … I don’t even understand why we’re open, honestly,” he said. But he added that the holidays are one of the biggest times for business and the poker room had every available seat filled on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday over the Christmas holiday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria continue to work closely with the Sonoma County Public Health Officer,” said Greg Sarris, Tribal Chairman of the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria in an emailed statement to KQED. The casino will remain open “on a limited basis and [it] continues to exceed all CDC safety requirements,” the statement said, adding that team members are tested for COVID-19 every two weeks and that they wear “digital devices that ensure social distancing.” The statement also said casino bars will continue to remain closed, and alcohol service ends at 9 p.m.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of the elements of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/reopen-guidance.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">CDC’s guidance\u003c/a> is to “maintain safe behavioral practices,” which includes social distancing of 6 feet. But as evidenced by images sent by the employee, social distancing is nearly impossible at a poker table.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Many of us are scared for our families and community,” the employee said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label='Related Coverage' tag='worker-safety']With the most recent surge, as someone who is constantly thinking about numbers, the employee said it’s hard to avoid thinking about the potential impact.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We in the poker industry, we’re math people — we’re statistics people,” he said. “I can’t help but think about California’s positivity rate — 2% to 3% right now. And if you apply that to 105 people [the poker room capacity], statistically two to three people in that room are positive at any given point.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Jan. 1, 2021 a new California law, \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DCDC/Pages/COVID-19/ab685.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Assembly Bill 685\u003c/a>, went into effect. The law requires employers to notify employees who may have been exposed to COVID-19 and to report workplace outbreaks to the local health department. It also expands the power of California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health by allowing Cal/OSHA to shut down worksites that expose employees to an “imminent hazard” related to COVID-19. But Cal/OSHA would not have the authority to shut down any work site on tribal land, as those lands fall outside state jurisdiction.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Resources:\u003c/h3>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.dir.ca.gov/dosh/coronavirus/AB6852020FAQs.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">COVID-19 Infection Prevention Requirements (AB 685)\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://files.covid19.ca.gov/pdf/responding-to-covid19-workplace--en.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Responding to COVID-19 in the Workplace for Employers\u003c/a>: California Department of Public Health guidance for employers on how to respond to cases of COVID-19 in the workplace\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://covid19.ca.gov/industry-guidance/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Industry Guidance to Reduce Risk\u003c/a>: Information and resources for reopening businesses and facilities safely in California\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.dir.ca.gov/dosh/coronavirus/COVID19FAQs.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cal/OSHA COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standards\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "As COVID-19 continues to ravage California, some businesses remain outside the purview of state law: resorts and casinos operating under federal law on tribal land.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>As California continues to grapple with a worsening winter surge of COVID-19 cases, some businesses remain able to operate outside the purview of state shutdown orders aimed to protect public health during the pandemic. Tribal resorts and casinos in California operate under federal law on federally protected sovereign land known as rancherias – so they’re not required to comply with orders issued by Gov. Newsom or county officials.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Graton Resort and Casino, located on tribal land in Rohnert Park, came under criticism for announcing that it would host a 4,000-person New Year’s Eve party. After a public-shaming, the Sonoma County casino \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/local-politics/article/Sonoma-casino-cancels-controversial-indoor-New-15827599.php\">canceled the event\u003c/a> last week and “apologized for any inconvenience” in a statement online.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sonoma County Public Health Officer Sundari Mase recently \u003ca href=\"https://abc7news.com/graton-casino-new-years-eve-2020-party-sonoma-county-coronavirus/9042379/\">told ABC7 News\u003c/a> the department was working with the casino to mitigate risk, “in terms of limiting indoor capacity to 20% of what’s normal, in terms of enforcing facial coverings or masks and social distancing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the casino may not be adhering to that 20% capacity threshold, according to some employees who say their employer’s practices make them fear for their safety.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At a poker table, we’re sitting seven players, plus a dealer. That’s eight people sitting at a table that’s 6 feet long,” said an employee of the Graton Resort and Casino who asked to remain anonymous for fear of losing his job.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The employee, who has worked there for several years, told KQED the casino was “slammed” the last week of December. As the coronavirus surged through the state and regional businesses limited their capacity or shut down entirely, poker players continued traveling to the few places still open.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They all started traveling up here,” he said, adding that many players are traveling over two hours to spend the day playing poker. “We’re sitting with these people for eight hours a day. They’re playing 10, 12 hours a day in the same room with the same seats, the same people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While players are required to have masks on inside and cannot eat at the poker table, they’re allowed to smoke and can sit in the food court and eat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s scary … I don’t even understand why we’re open, honestly,” he said. But he added that the holidays are one of the biggest times for business and the poker room had every available seat filled on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday over the Christmas holiday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria continue to work closely with the Sonoma County Public Health Officer,” said Greg Sarris, Tribal Chairman of the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria in an emailed statement to KQED. The casino will remain open “on a limited basis and [it] continues to exceed all CDC safety requirements,” the statement said, adding that team members are tested for COVID-19 every two weeks and that they wear “digital devices that ensure social distancing.” The statement also said casino bars will continue to remain closed, and alcohol service ends at 9 p.m.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of the elements of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/reopen-guidance.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">CDC’s guidance\u003c/a> is to “maintain safe behavioral practices,” which includes social distancing of 6 feet. But as evidenced by images sent by the employee, social distancing is nearly impossible at a poker table.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Many of us are scared for our families and community,” the employee said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>With the most recent surge, as someone who is constantly thinking about numbers, the employee said it’s hard to avoid thinking about the potential impact.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We in the poker industry, we’re math people — we’re statistics people,” he said. “I can’t help but think about California’s positivity rate — 2% to 3% right now. And if you apply that to 105 people [the poker room capacity], statistically two to three people in that room are positive at any given point.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Jan. 1, 2021 a new California law, \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DCDC/Pages/COVID-19/ab685.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Assembly Bill 685\u003c/a>, went into effect. The law requires employers to notify employees who may have been exposed to COVID-19 and to report workplace outbreaks to the local health department. It also expands the power of California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health by allowing Cal/OSHA to shut down worksites that expose employees to an “imminent hazard” related to COVID-19. But Cal/OSHA would not have the authority to shut down any work site on tribal land, as those lands fall outside state jurisdiction.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Resources:\u003c/h3>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.dir.ca.gov/dosh/coronavirus/AB6852020FAQs.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">COVID-19 Infection Prevention Requirements (AB 685)\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://files.covid19.ca.gov/pdf/responding-to-covid19-workplace--en.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Responding to COVID-19 in the Workplace for Employers\u003c/a>: California Department of Public Health guidance for employers on how to respond to cases of COVID-19 in the workplace\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://covid19.ca.gov/industry-guidance/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Industry Guidance to Reduce Risk\u003c/a>: Information and resources for reopening businesses and facilities safely in California\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.dir.ca.gov/dosh/coronavirus/COVID19FAQs.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cal/OSHA COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standards\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Rohnert Park Payouts Set to Top $1.8 Million Over Marijuana and Cash Seizures",
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"content": "\u003cp>Rohnert Park city leaders are set to \u003ca href=\"https://docs.google.com/gview?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgranicus_production_attachments.s3.amazonaws.com%2Frpcity%2F43d9893af36e56795edae974dc13eefc0.pdf&embedded=true\">vote\u003c/a> Tuesday on two settlement agreements with eight men who sued the city over hundreds of pounds of marijuana and $55,000 they say was unlawfully seized during traffic stops.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Huedell Freeman, a cannabis cultivator based in Mendocino who said Rohnert Park police officers took 47 pounds of his legal product, will receive \u003ca href=\"https://legistarweb-production.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/attachment/pdf/536633/7F_Settlement_Agreement_and_Release_Freeman_vs_RP.pdf\">$287,500\u003c/a>. Seven other drivers who jointly filed suit against the city will split a \u003ca href=\"https://legistarweb-production.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/attachment/pdf/536634/7G_Settlement_Agreement_and_Release_Regarding_Payne_vs_RP.pdf\">$1,175,000\u003c/a> settlement. In August, the city \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11768671/rohnert-park-settles-one-lawsuit-over-illegal-pot-seizures-5-more-plaintiffs-sue\">settled\u003c/a> with a Texas-based man named Zeke Flatten for $415,000.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The case has conditionally resolved to the mutual satisfaction of the parties,” was all the plaintiffs’ attorney Izaak Schwaiger would say about the case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rohnert Park Assistant City Manager Don Schwartz wrote in an email that the settlements are in the best interests of the city, as they are less costly than continued litigation, but do not indicate liability or responsibility on the city’s part.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KQED \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11673412/highway-robbery-drivers-allege-rohnert-park-police-illegally-seized-cannabis-cash\">first reported\u003c/a> on this pattern of suspicious seizures in 2018 after several drivers came forward with corresponding stories alleging that Rohnert Park police officers pulled them over 40 miles north of their jurisdiction for the purpose of taking their cash or marijuana.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although Freeman said he couldn’t comment on the settlement, it should finally bring an end to his three-year struggle to get back the cannabis — a year’s worth of income — that he said was unlawfully taken from him during a December 2016 traffic stop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The joint lawsuit \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11768671/rohnert-park-settles-one-lawsuit-over-illegal-pot-seizures-5-more-plaintiffs-sue\">filed by seven motorists in August\u003c/a> alleges that former Rohnert Park officers Jacy Tatum, Joseph Huffaker and Christopher Snyder collectively took more than 330 pounds of marijuana from them and seized $55,000 in cash but never appropriately documented, destroyed or returned the cash or cannabis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an unusual legal move, the suit made RICO allegations — stating that the officers were basically acting like an organized crime ring by conspiring to extort drivers and obstruct justice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The primary officers alleged to have been involved in inappropriate interdiction incidents are no longer with the City,” Schwartz wrote. “There have been no similar allegations against the City since 2017.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label='Related Coverage' tag='rohnert-park']Former Sgt. Jacy Tatum, the officer at the center of the allegations, left the department in June 2018 after the city launched an internal affairs investigation. Then-director Brian Masterson retired in August 2018, and the city \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11735983/probe-into-rohnert-park-cannabis-and-cash-seizures-will-stay-secret-despite-transparency-law\">forced out\u003c/a> former officer Joseph Huffaker in March 2019.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A federal jury \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11702984/federal-jury-rohnert-park-police-violated-couples-constitutional-rights\">awarded\u003c/a> a Rohnert Park couple $145,000 in damages in November 2019 in a separate case involving Tatum illegally searching their home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the past year, Schwartz said the city’s public safety department has “completed a restructuring to improve oversight and accountability and strengthened policies related to seizure, evidence storage, asset seizure requirements, video surveillance and report writing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The money for these settlement agreements will be paid for by its insurer, Redwood Empire Municipal Insurance Fund.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Rohnert Park city leaders are set to \u003ca href=\"https://docs.google.com/gview?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgranicus_production_attachments.s3.amazonaws.com%2Frpcity%2F43d9893af36e56795edae974dc13eefc0.pdf&embedded=true\">vote\u003c/a> Tuesday on two settlement agreements with eight men who sued the city over hundreds of pounds of marijuana and $55,000 they say was unlawfully seized during traffic stops.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Huedell Freeman, a cannabis cultivator based in Mendocino who said Rohnert Park police officers took 47 pounds of his legal product, will receive \u003ca href=\"https://legistarweb-production.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/attachment/pdf/536633/7F_Settlement_Agreement_and_Release_Freeman_vs_RP.pdf\">$287,500\u003c/a>. Seven other drivers who jointly filed suit against the city will split a \u003ca href=\"https://legistarweb-production.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/attachment/pdf/536634/7G_Settlement_Agreement_and_Release_Regarding_Payne_vs_RP.pdf\">$1,175,000\u003c/a> settlement. In August, the city \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11768671/rohnert-park-settles-one-lawsuit-over-illegal-pot-seizures-5-more-plaintiffs-sue\">settled\u003c/a> with a Texas-based man named Zeke Flatten for $415,000.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The case has conditionally resolved to the mutual satisfaction of the parties,” was all the plaintiffs’ attorney Izaak Schwaiger would say about the case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rohnert Park Assistant City Manager Don Schwartz wrote in an email that the settlements are in the best interests of the city, as they are less costly than continued litigation, but do not indicate liability or responsibility on the city’s part.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KQED \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11673412/highway-robbery-drivers-allege-rohnert-park-police-illegally-seized-cannabis-cash\">first reported\u003c/a> on this pattern of suspicious seizures in 2018 after several drivers came forward with corresponding stories alleging that Rohnert Park police officers pulled them over 40 miles north of their jurisdiction for the purpose of taking their cash or marijuana.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although Freeman said he couldn’t comment on the settlement, it should finally bring an end to his three-year struggle to get back the cannabis — a year’s worth of income — that he said was unlawfully taken from him during a December 2016 traffic stop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The joint lawsuit \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11768671/rohnert-park-settles-one-lawsuit-over-illegal-pot-seizures-5-more-plaintiffs-sue\">filed by seven motorists in August\u003c/a> alleges that former Rohnert Park officers Jacy Tatum, Joseph Huffaker and Christopher Snyder collectively took more than 330 pounds of marijuana from them and seized $55,000 in cash but never appropriately documented, destroyed or returned the cash or cannabis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an unusual legal move, the suit made RICO allegations — stating that the officers were basically acting like an organized crime ring by conspiring to extort drivers and obstruct justice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The primary officers alleged to have been involved in inappropriate interdiction incidents are no longer with the City,” Schwartz wrote. “There have been no similar allegations against the City since 2017.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Former Sgt. Jacy Tatum, the officer at the center of the allegations, left the department in June 2018 after the city launched an internal affairs investigation. Then-director Brian Masterson retired in August 2018, and the city \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11735983/probe-into-rohnert-park-cannabis-and-cash-seizures-will-stay-secret-despite-transparency-law\">forced out\u003c/a> former officer Joseph Huffaker in March 2019.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A federal jury \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11702984/federal-jury-rohnert-park-police-violated-couples-constitutional-rights\">awarded\u003c/a> a Rohnert Park couple $145,000 in damages in November 2019 in a separate case involving Tatum illegally searching their home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the past year, Schwartz said the city’s public safety department has “completed a restructuring to improve oversight and accountability and strengthened policies related to seizure, evidence storage, asset seizure requirements, video surveillance and report writing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The money for these settlement agreements will be paid for by its insurer, Redwood Empire Municipal Insurance Fund.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Lawyers for the city of Rohnert Park have agreed to settle with a Texas man who \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11706921/lawsuit-rohnert-park-hopland-police-conspired-to-steal-cannabis-and-cash-on-highway-101\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">sued the Police Department\u003c/a> last year over three pounds of legal marijuana seized from him during a 2017 traffic stop. The city will pay Zeke Flatten $415,000, according to his attorney, Izaak Schwaiger, pending approval of the City Council.[pullquote size=\"small\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Izaak Schwaiger, Plaintiffs' Attorney\"]'[W]e've got them dead to rights here.'[/pullquote]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The settlement represents \"the most expensive marijuana transaction for 3 pounds of cannabis in the history of the United States,” Schwaiger said. “Rohnert Park just paid $138,000 a pound of marijuana to settle this case with him.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Flatten’s suit accuses the involved officers of extortion, racketeering, obstruction of justice and money laundering. The allegations that a team of police officers operated like an organized crime ring are highly unusual, said civil rights attorney Schwaiger.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As far as the RICO allegations, they're notoriously difficult to prove,” he said. “And we've got them dead to rights here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city is not admitting any wrongdoing in connection with the payout, Schwaiger said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Assistant City Manager Don Schwartz said the settlement is pending approval by the City Council and the city’s insurance group. He said they will have to make that decision before the first payment is due Flatten in October.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Not only was this settlement a victory for my particular incident,” Flatten said in a phone interview Tuesday, “but also for all the other victims that never came forward or didn't even know who to approach to come forward.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Flatten \u003ca href=\"http://kymkemp.com/2018/04/26/rohnert-park-police-officers-being-investigated-following-two-incidents-where-humboldt-county-cannabis-was-seized-under-suspicious-circumstances/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">was the first\u003c/a> of a string of motorists who spoke out last year \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11673412/highway-robbery-drivers-allege-rohnert-park-police-illegally-seized-cannabis-cash\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">alleging a pattern\u003c/a> of unlawful cash and marijuana seizures by Rohnert Park police officers. A second man, Huedell Freeman, filed suit in December against the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Five more plaintiffs filed a lawsuit on Friday in connection with the city’s drug seizure program, alleging conspiracy, robbery, money laundering and racketeering.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of the plaintiffs, Joshua Surrat, alleges former officers Jacy Tatum and Joseph Huffaker pulled him over for no reason, placed him in handcuffs and took 26 pounds of legal cannabis bound for a Santa Cruz medical marijuana dispensary from the back of his truck.[aside postID=\"news_11673412,news_11678122,news_11735983\" label=\"'Highway Robbery' Series\" heroLink=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/highway-robbery-series\" target=\"_blank\" hero=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/RS31347_IMG_3562-qut-1200x800.jpg\"]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Tatum then moved very close to Mr. Surrat’s face and said, ‘You don’t tell anyone about this either,’ ” the complaint says. “‘Not your lawyer, not the collective where the herb is going, no one. If we don’t hear from you, you won’t hear from us. If your lawyer comes calling asking around the department or anything like that, we will come up to your property in Ukiah. I bet we could find some more felonies if we came up there, huh?’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dale Allen, Huffaker’s lawyer, said the traffic stops detailed in the new complaint were thoroughly documented by police. Allen said Huffaker “continues to maintain he was not the person who stopped Mr. Flatten.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tatum’s attorneys did not respond to requests for comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The latest lawsuit also accuses police officials of failing to put in safeguards that would have prevented the officers’ unlawful activity. The city also profited from the cash seizures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Schwaiger says that while the tentative settlement of Flatten’s case is important, the larger goal of these lawsuits is to reform the historically troubled Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A federal jury \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11702984/federal-jury-rohnert-park-police-violated-couples-constitutional-rights\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">awarded\u003c/a> a Rohnert Park couple $145,000 in damages in November in a separate \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11701249/ex-cops-credibility-is-key-question-in-federal-suit-against-rohnert-park\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">case involving Tatum\u003c/a> illegally searching their home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have a community that's suffered under their bad policing and it might now begin to turn around,” Schwaiger said. “And I don't want to be overly optimistic, but that is ultimately the goal in any kind of civil rights litigation, is to improve the communities that we live in and to protect everyone's rights.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Schwartz said he couldn’t comment on the latest lawsuit, but he pointed to a third-party review of the department that “found we're providing a high level of service to our residents.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The officers that have been most closely associated with the marijuana interdiction concerns are no longer with the department,” Schwarz said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tatum, the former sergeant named in each of the lawsuits, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11678122/documentation-missing-for-at-least-800-pounds-of-marijuana-seized-by-rohnert-park-police\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">left the department\u003c/a> in June 2018 after the city launched an internal affairs investigation. Director Brian Masterson \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11681642/rohnert-park-police-chief-to-retire-amid-questions-over-seized-marijuana-and-cash\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">retired\u003c/a> in August 2018. The city struck an \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11735983/probe-into-rohnert-park-cannabis-and-cash-seizures-will-stay-secret-despite-transparency-law\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">agreement\u003c/a> to force out former officer Joseph Huffaker in March of this year. And a commander who oversaw the interdiction program retired “a few months ago,” according to Schwarz.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under the terms of the Flatten settlement, the details of an internal investigation done by the city into allegations against these officers will remain secret.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Schwaiger said that if the latest suit goes to trial, those documents will be unsealed, and that in itself will be a victory.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Then the public will have a real detailed and disturbing insight into the inner workings of that police department,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Read the latest complaint below.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[documentcloud url=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6306568-NewRicoRohnertPark.html\" responsive=true text=false]\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "An attorney called the six-figure settlement over 3 pounds of wrongfully seized cannabis the most expensive marijuana transaction in the history of the U.S.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Lawyers for the city of Rohnert Park have agreed to settle with a Texas man who \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11706921/lawsuit-rohnert-park-hopland-police-conspired-to-steal-cannabis-and-cash-on-highway-101\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">sued the Police Department\u003c/a> last year over three pounds of legal marijuana seized from him during a 2017 traffic stop. The city will pay Zeke Flatten $415,000, according to his attorney, Izaak Schwaiger, pending approval of the City Council.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The settlement represents \"the most expensive marijuana transaction for 3 pounds of cannabis in the history of the United States,” Schwaiger said. “Rohnert Park just paid $138,000 a pound of marijuana to settle this case with him.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Flatten’s suit accuses the involved officers of extortion, racketeering, obstruction of justice and money laundering. The allegations that a team of police officers operated like an organized crime ring are highly unusual, said civil rights attorney Schwaiger.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As far as the RICO allegations, they're notoriously difficult to prove,” he said. “And we've got them dead to rights here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city is not admitting any wrongdoing in connection with the payout, Schwaiger said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Assistant City Manager Don Schwartz said the settlement is pending approval by the City Council and the city’s insurance group. He said they will have to make that decision before the first payment is due Flatten in October.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Not only was this settlement a victory for my particular incident,” Flatten said in a phone interview Tuesday, “but also for all the other victims that never came forward or didn't even know who to approach to come forward.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Flatten \u003ca href=\"http://kymkemp.com/2018/04/26/rohnert-park-police-officers-being-investigated-following-two-incidents-where-humboldt-county-cannabis-was-seized-under-suspicious-circumstances/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">was the first\u003c/a> of a string of motorists who spoke out last year \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11673412/highway-robbery-drivers-allege-rohnert-park-police-illegally-seized-cannabis-cash\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">alleging a pattern\u003c/a> of unlawful cash and marijuana seizures by Rohnert Park police officers. A second man, Huedell Freeman, filed suit in December against the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Five more plaintiffs filed a lawsuit on Friday in connection with the city’s drug seizure program, alleging conspiracy, robbery, money laundering and racketeering.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of the plaintiffs, Joshua Surrat, alleges former officers Jacy Tatum and Joseph Huffaker pulled him over for no reason, placed him in handcuffs and took 26 pounds of legal cannabis bound for a Santa Cruz medical marijuana dispensary from the back of his truck.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Tatum then moved very close to Mr. Surrat’s face and said, ‘You don’t tell anyone about this either,’ ” the complaint says. “‘Not your lawyer, not the collective where the herb is going, no one. If we don’t hear from you, you won’t hear from us. If your lawyer comes calling asking around the department or anything like that, we will come up to your property in Ukiah. I bet we could find some more felonies if we came up there, huh?’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dale Allen, Huffaker’s lawyer, said the traffic stops detailed in the new complaint were thoroughly documented by police. Allen said Huffaker “continues to maintain he was not the person who stopped Mr. Flatten.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tatum’s attorneys did not respond to requests for comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The latest lawsuit also accuses police officials of failing to put in safeguards that would have prevented the officers’ unlawful activity. The city also profited from the cash seizures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Schwaiger says that while the tentative settlement of Flatten’s case is important, the larger goal of these lawsuits is to reform the historically troubled Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A federal jury \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11702984/federal-jury-rohnert-park-police-violated-couples-constitutional-rights\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">awarded\u003c/a> a Rohnert Park couple $145,000 in damages in November in a separate \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11701249/ex-cops-credibility-is-key-question-in-federal-suit-against-rohnert-park\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">case involving Tatum\u003c/a> illegally searching their home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have a community that's suffered under their bad policing and it might now begin to turn around,” Schwaiger said. “And I don't want to be overly optimistic, but that is ultimately the goal in any kind of civil rights litigation, is to improve the communities that we live in and to protect everyone's rights.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Schwartz said he couldn’t comment on the latest lawsuit, but he pointed to a third-party review of the department that “found we're providing a high level of service to our residents.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The officers that have been most closely associated with the marijuana interdiction concerns are no longer with the department,” Schwarz said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tatum, the former sergeant named in each of the lawsuits, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11678122/documentation-missing-for-at-least-800-pounds-of-marijuana-seized-by-rohnert-park-police\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">left the department\u003c/a> in June 2018 after the city launched an internal affairs investigation. Director Brian Masterson \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11681642/rohnert-park-police-chief-to-retire-amid-questions-over-seized-marijuana-and-cash\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">retired\u003c/a> in August 2018. The city struck an \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11735983/probe-into-rohnert-park-cannabis-and-cash-seizures-will-stay-secret-despite-transparency-law\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">agreement\u003c/a> to force out former officer Joseph Huffaker in March of this year. And a commander who oversaw the interdiction program retired “a few months ago,” according to Schwarz.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under the terms of the Flatten settlement, the details of an internal investigation done by the city into allegations against these officers will remain secret.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Schwaiger said that if the latest suit goes to trial, those documents will be unsealed, and that in itself will be a victory.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Then the public will have a real detailed and disturbing insight into the inner workings of that police department,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Read the latest complaint below.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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},
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"id": "city-arts",
"title": "City Arts & Lectures",
"info": "A one-hour radio program to hear celebrated writers, artists and thinkers address contemporary ideas and values, often discussing the creative process. Please note: tapes or transcripts are not available",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/05/cityartsandlecture-300x300.jpg",
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"airtime": "SUN 1pm-2pm, TUE 10pm, WED 1am",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "City Arts & Lectures"
},
"link": "https://www.cityarts.net",
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"rss": "https://www.cityarts.net/feed/"
}
},
"closealltabs": {
"id": "closealltabs",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/closealltabs",
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"order": 1
},
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"id": "code-switch-life-kit",
"title": "Code Switch / Life Kit",
"info": "\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em>, which listeners will hear in the first part of the hour, has fearless and much-needed conversations about race. Hosted by journalists of color, the show tackles the subject of race head-on, exploring how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and more.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em>, which will be in the second part of the hour, guides you through spaces and feelings no one prepares you for — from finances to mental health, from workplace microaggressions to imposter syndrome, from relationships to parenting. The show features experts with real world experience and shares their knowledge. Because everyone needs a little help being human.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch\">\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/lifekit\">\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />",
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"id": "commonwealth-club",
"title": "Commonwealth Club of California Podcast",
"info": "The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. As a non-partisan forum, The Club brings to the public airwaves diverse viewpoints on important topics. The Club's weekly radio broadcast - the oldest in the U.S., dating back to 1924 - is carried across the nation on public radio stations and is now podcasting. Our website archive features audio of our recent programs, as well as selected speeches from our long and distinguished history. This podcast feed is usually updated twice a week and is always un-edited.",
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"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Commonwealth-Club-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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"source": "Commonwealth Club of California"
},
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5jb21tb253ZWFsdGhjbHViLm9yZy9hdWRpby9wb2RjYXN0L3dlZWtseS54bWw",
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"id": "forum",
"title": "Forum",
"tagline": "The conversation starts here",
"info": "KQED’s live call-in program discussing local, state, national and international issues, as well as in-depth interviews.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 9am-11am, 10pm-11pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Forum-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 9
},
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM5NTU3MzgxNjMz",
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"airtime": "SUN 1am-2am, SAT 3pm-4pm",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WNYC"
},
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"subscribe": {
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/freakonomics-radio/id354668519",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/WNYC-Podcasts/Freakonomics-Radio-p272293/",
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},
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"id": "fresh-air",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=214089682&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"info": "A live production of NPR and WBUR Boston, in collaboration with stations across the country, Here & Now reflects the fluid world of news as it's happening in the middle of the day, with timely, in-depth news, interviews and conversation. Hosted by Robin Young, Jeremy Hobson and Tonya Mosley.",
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},
"hidden-brain": {
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"info": "Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices and direct our relationships.",
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"airtime": "SUN 7pm-8pm",
"meta": {
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"source": "NPR"
},
"link": "/radio/program/hidden-brain",
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"how-i-built-this": {
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"title": "How I Built This with Guy Raz",
"info": "Guy Raz dives into the stories behind some of the world's best known companies. How I Built This weaves a narrative journey about innovators, entrepreneurs and idealists—and the movements they built.",
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"airtime": "SUN 7:30pm-8pm",
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"link": "/radio/program/how-i-built-this",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-built-this-with-guy-raz/id1150510297?mt=2",
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"hyphenacion": {
"id": "hyphenacion",
"title": "Hyphenación",
"tagline": "Where conversation and cultura meet",
"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Hyphenacion_FinalAssets_PodcastTile.png",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/hyphenacion",
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"order": 15
},
"link": "/podcasts/hyphenacion",
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"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/2p3Fifq96nw9BPcmFdIq0o?si=39209f7b25774f38",
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},
"jerrybrown": {
"id": "jerrybrown",
"title": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"tagline": "Lessons from a lifetime in politics",
"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Political-Mind-of-Jerry-Brown-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
"meta": {
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"order": 18
},
"link": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
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},
"latino-usa": {
"id": "latino-usa",
"title": "Latino USA",
"airtime": "MON 1am-2am, SUN 6pm-7pm",
"info": "Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture, is the only national, English-language radio program produced from a Latino perspective.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/latinoUsa.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://latinousa.org/",
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},
"link": "/radio/program/latino-usa",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=79681317&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510016/podcast.xml"
}
},
"marketplace": {
"id": "marketplace",
"title": "Marketplace",
"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Marketplace-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.marketplace.org/",
"meta": {
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"source": "American Public Media"
},
"link": "/radio/program/marketplace",
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},
"masters-of-scale": {
"id": "masters-of-scale",
"title": "Masters of Scale",
"info": "Masters of Scale is an original podcast in which LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman sets out to describe and prove theories that explain how great entrepreneurs take their companies from zero to a gazillion in ingenious fashion.",
"airtime": "Every other Wednesday June 12 through October 16 at 8pm (repeats Thursdays at 2am)",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "https://mastersofscale.com/",
"meta": {
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"source": "WaitWhat"
},
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"apple": "http://mastersofscale.app.link/",
"rss": "https://rss.art19.com/masters-of-scale"
}
},
"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
"title": "MindShift",
"tagline": "A podcast about the future of learning and how we raise our kids",
"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mindshift-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED MindShift: How We Will Learn",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/mindshift/",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 12
},
"link": "/podcasts/mindshift",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5",
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}
},
"morning-edition": {
"id": "morning-edition",
"title": "Morning Edition",
"info": "\u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em> takes listeners around the country and the world with multi-faceted stories and commentaries every weekday. Hosts Steve Inskeep, David Greene and Rachel Martin bring you the latest breaking news and features to prepare you for the day.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 3am-9am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Morning-Edition-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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"link": "/radio/program/morning-edition"
},
"onourwatch": {
"id": "onourwatch",
"title": "On Our Watch",
"tagline": "Deeply-reported investigative journalism",
"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/On-Our-Watch-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 11
},
"link": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
"subscribe": {
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5ucHIub3JnLzUxMDM2MC9wb2RjYXN0LnhtbD9zYz1nb29nbGVwb2RjYXN0cw",
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},
"on-the-media": {
"id": "on-the-media",
"title": "On The Media",
"info": "Our weekly podcast explores how the media 'sausage' is made, casts an incisive eye on fluctuations in the marketplace of ideas, and examines threats to the freedom of information and expression in America and abroad. For one hour a week, the show tries to lift the veil from the process of \"making media,\" especially news media, because it's through that lens that we see the world and the world sees us",
"airtime": "SUN 2pm-3pm, MON 12am-1am",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/onTheMedia.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/otm",
"meta": {
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"source": "wnyc"
},
"link": "/radio/program/on-the-media",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/on-the-media/id73330715?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/On-the-Media-p69/",
"rss": "http://feeds.wnyc.org/onthemedia"
}
},
"pbs-newshour": {
"id": "pbs-newshour",
"title": "PBS NewsHour",
"info": "Analysis, background reports and updates from the PBS NewsHour putting today's news in context.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 3pm-4pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/PBS-News-Hour-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.pbs.org/newshour/",
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},
"link": "/radio/program/pbs-newshour",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/pbs-newshour-full-show/id394432287?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/PBS-NewsHour---Full-Show-p425698/",
"rss": "https://www.pbs.org/newshour/feeds/rss/podcasts/show"
}
},
"perspectives": {
"id": "perspectives",
"title": "Perspectives",
"tagline": "KQED's series of daily listener commentaries since 1991",
"info": "KQED's series of daily listener commentaries since 1991.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Perspectives_Tile_Final.jpg",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/perspectives/",
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 14
},
"link": "/perspectives",
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