Sentencing for a former Rohnert Park police officer found guilty of posing as a federal agent and robbing motorists of cash and cannabis has been delayed again while he seeks a new attorney, court records show.
Joseph Huffaker was scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday in U.S. District Court in San Francisco. He faces up to 20 years in federal prison after a jury in July convicted him on six counts, including conspiracy, impersonating a federal officer and obstruction of justice.
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His attorney, Richard Ceballos, filed a motion Nov. 24 asking to continue the hearing 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.”
Records do not specify why Huffaker wants a new attorney.
On Nov. 26, U.S. District Judge Maxine Chesney rescheduled sentencing to Jan. 21, over the objection of prosecutors, who noted Huffaker has already “cycled through” six sets of attorneys since being charged in 2021. One lawyer had to be replaced after dying, they said.
Sentencing was initially expected in October before 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.”
The delay in Huffaker’s case has also stalled sentencing for co-defendant Brendan “Jacy” Tatum, a former sergeant with the Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety. Tatum pleaded guilty in December 2021, and his sentencing has been rescheduled multiple times 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 against Huffaker at trial, had most recently been set to be sentenced Dec. 10. On Tuesday, Chesney approved a joint request to move that hearing to Feb. 18. While testifying in July, Tatum said he was cooperating with investigators in hopes of receiving a lighter sentence.
He and Huffaker remain out of custody pending sentencing.
The trial grew out of a yearslong scandal involving Rohnert Park’s drug interdiction team, a now-defunct unit disbanded in early 2017 after California legalized recreational cannabis. Prosecutors said Huffaker and Tatum used their training to pull over drivers, pose as agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and seize marijuana and cash that was later sold for profit. Much of the activity occurred along Highway 101 near the Sonoma-Mendocino county line.
The scheme began to unravel after a traffic stop Dec. 18, 2017, when two California Highway Patrol officers briefly encountered Tatum and Huffaker. Tatum’s presence was later referenced after another victim filed a complaint with the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office about an unlawful stop.
In February 2018, the FBI and the Sheriff’s Office contacted Tatum about a separate stop Dec. 5, 2017. Prosecutors say Tatum and Huffaker were not involved in that incident but tried to cover their tracks by issuing a press release and police report that borrowed details from the Dec. 18 stop.
Tatum resigned in March 2018 after an internal investigation began. Then-Public Safety Director Brian Masterson abruptly retired soon after. Huffaker was later found to have violated department policy and left the force in 2019 with a $75,000 settlement in exchange for his resignation.
In 2020, the city of Rohnert Park agreed to pay $1.5 million to settle federal lawsuits filed by eight drivers who said officers robbed them during unlawful stops.
You can reach Staff Writer Colin Atagi at colin.atagi@pressdemocrat.com.