Former Antioch Police Officer Morteza Amiri was convicted by a federal jury on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024. Herald file photo
Morteza Amiri is last of six Antioch, Pittsburg officers convicted of conspiring to defraud their departments by obtaining payments and raises for university degrees they paid a third party to complete
Information provided on cases for four other former Antioch officers
By U.S. Attorney’s Office Northern District of California
OAKLAND – On Thursday, August 8, 2024, a federal jury convicted police officer Morteza Amiri of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud in a scheme to obtain pay raises from the City of Antioch Police Department for a university degree he paid someone else to obtain in his name, announced United States Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey and FBI San Francisco Special Agent in Charge Robert K. Tripp. The felony verdicts follow a four-day trial before United States Senior District Judge Jeffrey S. White. Amiri is the sixth officer to be convicted in the conspiracy to commit wire fraud, along with former Pittsburg Officers Patrick Berhan, Amanda Theodosy a/k/a Nash and Ernesto Mejia-Orozco, former Antioch Community Service Officer Samantha Peterson and former Pittsburg Police and Oakland Housing Authority Officer Brauli Rodriguez Jalapa. (See related article)
Former officers who pleaded guilty this year: Pittsburg officers Amanda Carmella Theodosy (aka Nash), Ernesto Juan Mejia-Orozco and Patrick James Berhan. Photos: Pittsburg PD. Former Antioch Police Community Service Officer Samantha Peterson. Photo: Antioch PD. (No photo of Oakland Housing Authority officer Brauli Rodriguez Jalapa could be located).
“We expect integrity and honesty from every police officer, every day, in the police departments across this country,” said U.S. Attorney Ismail Ramsey. “Amiri failed to uphold these basic responsibilities, and a federal jury has convicted him of defrauding his employer, the Antioch Police Department. He, along with the other officers he conspired with, now face the consequences of violating the rule of law that they swore to uphold.”
“Amiri engaged in a calculated conspiracy to defraud his police department of taxpayer funds. His actions were a violation of the law and a grave betrayal of public trust,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Robert Tripp. “Amiri and his co-conspirators’ deception has no place in law enforcement. With this conviction, he now faces the consequences of his actions.”
Amiri, 33, was employed as a Police Officer with the Antioch Police Department. At trial, the evidence presented showed that the City of Antioch and City of Pittsburg’s Police Departments offered reimbursements toward higher education tuition and expenses, along with pay raises and other financial incentives upon completion of a degree. However, instead of completing higher education coursework on their own, Amiri and his co-conspirators hired someone to complete entire courses on their behalf at an online university to secure a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice. Amiri and his co-conspirators then represented they had taken those courses and earned the degrees from the university when requesting reimbursements and financial incentives from their police department employers, the City of Antioch and the City of Pittsburg. They were in turn paid additional financial incentives, calculated as percentages of their salaries, while they remained employed by their police departments.
In a span of two years, the conspiracy included numerous other officers and former officers, including Berhan (Pittsburg PD), Amiri (Antioch PD), Theodosy a/k/a Nash (Pittsburg PD), Peterson (Antioch PD), Mejia-Orozco (Pittsburg PD), and Rodriguez Jalapa (formerly Pittsburg PD).
The evidence at trial showed that Amiri texted the person who took his classes for him, writing among other things: “can i hire you [ ] to do my … classes? ill pay you per class”; “don’t tell a soul about me hiring you for this. we can’t afford it getting leaked and me losing my job”; “if i submit my request for the degree on time by the end [ ] of the month i can coordinate my raise in a timely manner”; and “I’m gonna rush order my degree to get my pay raise jump started.”
On the basis of courses taken by this person, Amiri “earned” a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice. Amiri applied for and thereafter received financial incentives from the City of Antioch for having completed university courses and earning a bachelor’s degree.
The jury convicted Amiri of one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1349, and one count of wire fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1343.
U.S. Senior District Judge Jeffrey S. White scheduled Amiri’s sentencing for November 12, 2024. Each of the two counts of conviction carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. The Court may also order a fine, restitution, and supervision upon release from prison as part of any sentence. However, any sentence will be imposed by the Court only after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553.
A federal grand jury in San Francisco returned multiple indictments on August 16, 2023, that collectively charged ten current and former officers and employees from the Antioch and Pittsburg police departments with federal crimes. Amiri is the last officer to be convicted in the conspiracy to commit wire fraud case.
Amiri is scheduled for trial in another related case in February 2025.
Former Antioch officers arrested on Thursday, August 17, 2023, are Eric Allen Rombough, Devon Christopher Wenger, Timothy Allen Manly Williams and Daniel James Harris. Photos: APD
Here is the status of the cases: (Rombough, Wenger, Manly Williams and Harris are former Antioch Police Officers).
| Case Number | Statute(s) | Defendant
(Bold: multiple case numbers) |
Status |
| 23-cr-00264 | 18 U.S.C. §§ 1349 (Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud; 1343 (Wire Fraud) | Patrick Berhan | Pleaded guilty 3/26/24, sentencing set for 9/3/24 |
| Morteza Amiri | Convicted at trial 8/8/24, sentencing set for 11/12/24 | ||
| Amanda Theodosy a/k/a Nash | Pleaded guilty 7/30/24, sentencing set for 11/5/24 | ||
| Samantha Peterson | Pleaded guilty 1/9/24, sentenced 4/23/24 | ||
| Ernesto Mejia-Orozco | Pleaded guilty 6/11/24, sentencing set for 9/17/24 | ||
| Brauli Rodriguez Jalapa | Pleaded guilty 6/25/24, sentencing set for 10/22/24 | ||
| 23-cr-00267 | 18 U.S.C. §§ 1519 (Destruction, Alteration, and Falsification of Records in Federal Investigations); 1512(c)(2) (Obstruction of Official Proceedings); 242 (Deprivation of Rights Under Color of Law) | Timothy Manly Williams | Pending |
| 23-cr-00268 | 21 U.S.C. §§ 846 (Conspiracy to Distribute and Possess with Intent to Distribute Anabolic Steroids), 841(a)(1), and (b)(1)(E)(i) (Possession with Intent to Distribute Anabolic Steroids) | Daniel Harris | Status set for 8/13/24 |
| 21 U.S.C. §§ 846, 841(a)(1), and (b)(1)(E)(i) (Conspiracy to Distribute and Possess with Intent to Distribute Anabolic Steroids);
18 U.S.C. § 1519 (Destruction, Alteration, and Falsification of Records in Federal Investigations) |
Devon Wenger | ||
| 23-cr-00269 | 18 U.S.C. §§ 241 (Conspiracy Against Rights), 242 (Deprivation of Rights Under Color of Law); § 1519 (Destruction, Alteration, and Falsification of Records in Federal Investigations) | Morteza Amiri | Trial set for 2/18/25 |
| 18 U.S.C. §§ 241 (Conspiracy Against Rights), 242 (Deprivation of Rights Under Color of Law) | Eric Rombough | ||
| 18 U.S.C. §§ 241 (Conspiracy Against Rights), 242 (Deprivation of Rights Under Color of Law) | Devon Wenger | ||
| 24-cr-00157 | 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(E)(i) (Possession with Intent to Distribute Anabolic Steroids) | Patrick Berhan | Pleaded guilty 3/26/24, sentencing set for 9/3/24 |
This prosecution is the result of an investigation by the FBI and the Office of the Contra Costa County District Attorney.
