Sentencing for a former Rohnert Park police officer discovered responsible of posing as a federal agent and robbing motorists of money and hashish has been delayed once more whereas he seeks a brand new lawyer, courtroom information present.
Joseph Huffaker was scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday in U.S. District Court docket in San Francisco. He faces as much as 20 years in federal jail after a jury in July convicted him on six counts, together with conspiracy, impersonating a federal officer and obstruction of justice.
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His lawyer, Richard Ceballos, filed a movement Nov. 24 asking to proceed the listening to to Jan. 28, citing “a breakdown in the attorney-client relationship.”
“The reason for the continuance is that Mr. Huffaker has advised me that he no longer wants me to represent him and has taken affirmative steps to obtain new counsel for his sentencing hearing,” Ceballos wrote. “Furthermore, Mr. Huffaker has expressly directed me not to file any sentencing memorandum on his behalf until he has secured new counsel.”
Data don’t specify why Huffaker desires a brand new lawyer.
On Nov. 26, U.S. District Choose Maxine Chesney rescheduled sentencing to Jan. 21, over the objection of prosecutors, who famous Huffaker has already “cycled through” six units of attorneys since being charged in 2021. One lawyer had to get replaced after dying, they mentioned.
Sentencing was initially anticipated in October earlier than being moved to Wednesday.
“(Huffaker) should not be permitted to stand pat for several months after the trial, file the instant motion on the eve of sentencing, and further delay his ultimate sentencing and incarceration,” prosecutors wrote Nov. 24. “Moreover, there are real victims here who are entitled to justice and finality.”
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The delay in Huffaker’s case has additionally stalled sentencing for co-defendant Brendan “Jacy” Tatum, a former sergeant with the Rohnert Park Division of Public Security. Tatum pleaded responsible in December 2021, and his sentencing has been rescheduled a number of instances as Huffaker’s case has dragged on.
“The government believes Tatum’s cooperation is best evaluated after (Huffaker) has been sentenced and, thus, a continuation of defendant’s sentencing may also lead to delay in Tatum’s case,” prosecutors wrote.
Tatum, who testified in opposition to Huffaker at trial, had most not too long ago been set to be sentenced Dec. 10. On Tuesday, Chesney accredited a joint request to maneuver that listening to to Feb. 18. Whereas testifying in July, Tatum mentioned he was cooperating with investigators in hopes of receiving a lighter sentence.
He and Huffaker stay out of custody pending sentencing.
The trial grew out of a yearslong scandal involving Rohnert Park’s drug interdiction group, a now-defunct unit disbanded in early 2017 after California legalized leisure hashish. Prosecutors mentioned Huffaker and Tatum used their coaching to tug over drivers, pose as brokers with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and seize marijuana and money that was later bought for revenue. A lot of the exercise occurred alongside Freeway 101 close to the Sonoma-Mendocino county line.
The scheme started to unravel after a visitors cease Dec. 18, 2017, when two California Freeway Patrol officers briefly encountered Tatum and Huffaker. Tatum’s presence was later referenced after one other sufferer filed a grievance with the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Workplace about an illegal cease.
In February 2018, the FBI and the Sheriff’s Workplace contacted Tatum a couple of separate cease Dec. 5, 2017. Prosecutors say Tatum and Huffaker weren’t concerned in that incident however tried to cowl their tracks by issuing a press launch and police report that borrowed particulars from the Dec. 18 cease.
Tatum resigned in March 2018 after an inner investigation started. Then-Public Security Director Brian Masterson abruptly retired quickly after. Huffaker was later discovered to have violated division coverage and left the pressure in 2019 with a $75,000 settlement in trade for his resignation.
In 2020, town of Rohnert Park agreed to pay $1.5 million to settle federal lawsuits filed by eight drivers who mentioned officers robbed them throughout illegal stops.
