Former Rohnert Park police officer to be arraigned on new federal charges

A former Rohnert Park police officer is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday in federal court on new charges related to allegations that he extorted cash and drugs from motorists he’d stopped for traffic violations along Highway 101 near the border of Sonoma and Mendocino counties.

Earlier this month, a grand jury indicted Joseph Huffaker on new charges of impersonating a federal officer, falsifying records and aiding and abetting, according to a superseding indictment filed Dec. 13 in the U.S. District Court for Northern District of California.

Huffaker, who was employed as a Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety officer from 2012 to 2019, was previously indicted last year on federal charges of conspiracy to commit extortion and extortion under color of law.

His defense attorney, Christopher John Shea, declined to comment Tuesday, and federal prosecutors could not be reached for comment.

If convicted as charged, Huffaker could face a maximum sentence of 60 years in federal prison. He is expected to return to court on Jan. 18 to schedule future hearings.

A second defendant, Brendan “Jacy” Tatum, pleaded guilty on Dec. 1, 2021, to federal charges of extortion in his role as a peace officer, falsifying police reports and tax evasion. He was indicted in September 2021, and sentencing has been delayed on multiple occasions.

Tatum, a former sergeant, is now scheduled to be sentenced April 26. His attorney, Stuart Hanlon, said he expects the sentencing to take place as scheduled.

“I think we’re pretty much ready now,” Hanlon said.

He added that Tatum could be sentenced to five to 10 years in prison. He is spending time with his family while he can, his attorney said.

According to an indictment filed in September 2021, Tatum was accused of extorting a total of at least $3,700 in cash and 85 pounds of marijuana from motorists traveling Highway 101. Huffaker is accused of being involved in at least two of these alleged incidents.

Tatum led Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety’s Drug Interdiction Team from 2014 until 2017. Team members were tasked with conducting traffic stops to seize illegal drugs — efforts that were in addition to their regular duties.

Members of the Drug Interdiction Team were required to document and submit seized property as evidence. According to department protocol, Sonoma County judges had to sign off on any destroyed narcotics.

Federal prosecutors said Huffaker and Tatum shook down drivers on Highway 101 for cash, pot and property without documenting the stops or the evidence they seized. Tatum acted alone beginning in August 2016 but Huffaker got involved around the time of the team’s termination in January 2017, according to the indictment.

Prosecutors allege the men pretended to be agents with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The defendants allowed motorists to go if they did not contest the seizures, and did not report the contraband to their department.

“In these instances, the officers were not on duty, did not have body-worn cameras, were not in uniform and wore no insignia indicating they were with the Rohnert Park department, claimed to be ATF agents, and did not use a marked RPDPS police vehicle,” prosecutors wrote in the indictment.

According to court records, the final seizure allegedly made by the defendants took place in December 2017, there had been at least eight victims since the traffic stops began, and the defendants tried to falsify records in February 2018 to conceal their activity.

Authorities began to investigate the team in 2018 when a driver reported that he’d been unlawfully stopped and his marijuana taken by suspicious officers. More complaints from other motorists followed.

In early 2020, Rohnert Park paid $1.5 million to settle federal civil rights lawsuits filed by motorists who accused Tatum and Huffaker of robbing them of money and marijuana after they were pulled over on Highway 101 near the Mendocino County line.

You can reach Staff Writer Colin Atagi at colin.atagi@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @colin_atagi.