Former Rohnert Park officer’s federal extortion trial set for September

Jury selection is scheduled to begin Sept. 12 for a former Rohnert Park police officer charged in a federal extortion case tied to that of a disgraced former sergeant who still awaits sentencing more than two years after his conviction.

If all goes according to schedule, Joseph Huffaker’s jury trial will begin Sept. 16 and last about 10 to 12 days, according to United States District Court records.

The trial, in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, will be overseen by Judge Maxine Chesney.

Huffaker, who was employed by the Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety from 2012 to 2019, was indicted in 2021 on federal charges of conspiracy to commit extortion and extortion under color of law — meaning he is alleged to have used his authority as a police officer to carry out the crimes.

He’s accused of illegally seizing cannabis from drivers during traffic stops and falsifying records to cover up his actions.

The former sergeant, Brendan “Jacy” Tatum, was indicted in September 2021 and accused of leading the operation. He pleaded guilty in December 2021 to federal extortion charges in his role as a peace officer, falsifying police reports and tax evasion.

Tatum, a decorated officer, led the Rohnert Park’s drug interdiction team for several years between 2014 and his resignation in 2018 — a period when the department outpaced all other local law enforcement agencies in Sonoma County for drug seizures.

Its operations on Highway 101 often took place as far as 40 miles away from Rohnert Park city limits.

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.

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 resigned amid an internal investigation and then-Public Safety Director Brian Masterson abruptly retired. Huffaker was paid $75,000 to resign in 2019 after an internal investigation found he had engaged in misconduct. He has pleaded not guilty to the federal charges.

In early 2020, Rohnert Park paid $1.5 million to settle federal civil rights lawsuits from eight drivers who said Tatum and Huffaker, among other unnamed officers, robbed them of money and marijuana after they were pulled over on Highway 101 near the Mendocino County line.

The city ended its drug interdiction program targeting motorists in early 2017, according to city officials, though records reviewed by The Press Democrat for its investigation at the time showed nearly $800,000 in asset seizures reported by the city that year, more than every other Sonoma County agency, including the California Highway Patrol, combined.

Tatum’s sentencing has been pushed back on multiple occasions and is currently set for Jan. 29, records show.

Federal authorities have declined to answer questions about what is behind those postponements.

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