Ex-Rohnert Park Cop Fires Lawyer, Delays Sentencing—Again

ROHNERT-PARK, CA — The sentencing of a former Rohnert Park police officer who was found guilty of posing as a federal agent and robbing motorists of cash and cannabis in an extortion racket was delayed again while he seeks a new attorney, according to court records reported by The Press Democrat.

Joseph Huffaker was scheduled to be sentenced today in the U.S. District Court of San Francisco.

He faces up to 20 years in federal prison after a jury in July convicted him in July on six counts of conspiracy to commit extortion, extortion, conspiracy to falsify records in a federal investigation, falsifying records in a federal investigation, conspiracy to impersonate a federal officer, and impersonating a federal officer. The jury found that the extortion conspiracy included a traffic stop on December 18 during which Huffaker and an a fellow officer falsely claimed to be ATF agents and seized 23 pounds of marijuana. His sentencing hearing was scheduled for Oct. 15.

U.S. District Judge Maxine M. Chesney rescheduled the hearing to Jan. 21.

The delay also pushes back the sentencing of Huffaker’s former colleague and co-defendant, Brendan “Jacy” Tatum.

The two former Rohnert Park police officers were indicted in federal court for a years-long shakedown racket involving large amounts of drugs and cash, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California.

Tatum, of Santa Rosa, and Huffaker, of Rohnert Park, were charged with conspiracy to commit extortion "under color of official right," with Tatum also facing charges of tax evasion and falsification of records in a federal investigation, officials with the FBI, IRS and the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a news release.

Tatum was with the Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety from 2003 until 2018, and Huffaker from 2012 until 2019.

The charges stem from the pair's time with Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety's drug interdiction team, on which they served at various times between 2015 and 2017, authorities said in documents unsealed in the case.

Rohnert Park DPS operated the team from 2014 until 2017 for the purpose of seizing illegal drugs during traffic stops along U.S. Highway 101 between Cloverdale and Rohnert Park.

Tatum is accused of extorting at least $3,700 in cash and large amounts of marijuana while on duty by threatening to arrest the victim drivers if they did not consent to the seizures. In some cases, prosecutors said, Tatum and other officers operated against policy because they did not report the seizures, did not submit the marijuana or cash as evidence and sought no destruction orders for the marijuana.

The undocumented seizures, however, were captured in audio and video footage from the officers’ body-worn cameras.

When Rohnert Park DPS terminated the team's operations in January 2017, undocumented stops and seizures continued, prosecutors said.

Tatum and Huffaker are accused of extorting marijuana from a driver during a traffic stop along the 101 on Dec. 5, 2017, nearly a year after operations were ceased. They claimed to be ATF agents and were not wearing their Rohnert Park DPS uniforms during the seizure that went undocumented, prosecutors said.

Tatum is accused of making a stop with another officer on Dec. 18, 2017, in which the driver was carrying 23 pounds of marijuana, packaged in one-pound bags, labeled by date and strain. "That driver also had four crates of hash, all destined for a dispensary lab," prosecutors said. "Again, Tatum and the other officer were not in RPDPS uniforms and identified themselves as ATF agents when they told the driver they would either arrest him and seize the marijuana and hash, or the driver could agree to let them take the marijuana. Tatum and the officer took the marijuana."

It is alleged that in December 2018 when reports began to surface in the media about an FBI investigation of robberies along the 101 by purported law enforcement officers, Tatum drafted a press release and a false police report to cover his tracks.

Tatum pleaded guilty in December 2021 to conspiracy to commit extortion under color of official right, falsifying records in a federal investigation, and tax evasion. He was scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 3, also before Judge Chesney.

A 2021-22 Sonoma County Civil Grand Jury report called for greater police protocols and oversight in Rohnert Park after the U.S. Department of Justice accused the two officers there of "shaking down" motorists for drugs and cash.

Bay City News Service contributed to this report.

Read more about the case:

Grand Jury Calls For More Oversight Of Rohnert Park ...

Former Rohnert Park Officers Face Extortion, Conspiracy Charges