Ex-Cop Convicted of Seizing Marijuana Illegally Faces Few Consequences for Secret Cannabis Grow, Reports KQED
KQED generously shared this article with us as we provided the initial reporting that led to Rohnert Park Sgt. Brendan Jacy Tatum pleading guilty and to Officer Joseph Huffaker being charged though not yet tried for crimes associated with seizing cash and marijuana illegally.
Indoor cultivation room with rows of cannabis plants under high-intensity grow lights, showcasing an organized setup with ventilation, fans, and irrigation hoses taken March 27, 2024. [Photo from Inspection Warrant of Jacy Tatum’s property (PDF)]
Tatum is free on a $100,000 bond while awaiting sentencing for federal extortion, tax evasion and conspiracy charges connected to a string of marijuana seizures he conducted as a police officer, first reported by KQED in 2018. Tatum pleaded guilty in 2021, and is expected to testify at the trial of Joseph Huffaker, his former partner.
“This looks bad, especially with my case being for the same issue,” Tatum told officials during the March 27, 2024, inspection, internal documents obtained by KQED show. “I made a mistake, I know. I’m just trying to make some money and get things squared away for my family before I go to prison.”
Jacy Tatum being sworn in as sergeant in 2015. [Photo from the Facebook page of the City of Rohnert Park Police and Fire]
The county cited both Tatum and his tenant, Kylie Bradley Hargis, for cannabis violations, documents show. Hargis could not immediately be reached for comment. Neither Hargis nor Tatum faced criminal action or further investigation, according to Sonoma County officials. Tatum paid a $7,500 fine.
“I personally know Tatum to have ruined the lives of dozens and dozens and dozens of marijuana farmers out there,” said defense and civil rights attorney Izaak Schwaiger, who represented many of Tatum’s victims. He said it is hard to see the lack of consequences as anything other than preferential treatment. “ At some point, the system has zero integrity if they refuse to follow through and put the hammer on this guy.”
This is the latest twist in a legal saga that’s dragged on for years.
Beginning in 2013, Tatum was on Rohnert Park’s drug interdiction and civil asset forfeiture task force which seized around $3.6 million and at least 2.5 tons of marijuana over five years. He was promoted to sergeant and honored as the “officer of the year” by Rohnert Park city leaders, even as whispers that Tatum didn’t play by the rules began to mount.
In 2018, KQED reported on the allegations of eight motorists who claimed Tatum and his partners had unlawfully seized marijuana and cash from them during pretextual traffic stops. The city ultimately paid over $1.8 million in 2020 to settle a civil lawsuit with plaintiffs who alleged officers were acting like an organized crime ring by taking 330 pounds of marijuana from them and seizing $55,000.
In 2021, Tatum and Huffaker were indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly using their authority as police officers to extort people, taking large quantities of cannabis “without reporting or checking the seized property into evidence, or documenting or reporting the stop and seizure.” Huffaker has maintained his innocence.
Tatum and Huffaker were among the first former peace officers to be officially decertified under a California law that went into effect in January 2023.
In an email, Huffaker’s attorney said his client “looks forward to proving his innocence.” As part of Tatum’s plea deal, he is expected to testify against Huffaker at trial which, after numerous delays, is scheduled to begin in July.
One of Tatum’s victims, a Texas resident named Zeke Flatten, said it was hard to imagine how the former drug interdiction specialist could fail to notice cannabis cultivation on his own property. If federal prosecutors and pretrial services were notified and did nothing, Flatten said, “they betrayed me.”
“I should have been made aware of this as a victim,” he said.
Tatum’s lawyer said the March 27, 2024, inspection was the result of “ a complaint about a chicken coop” and that the discovery of the cannabis was incidental.
However, the application (PDF) the warrant shows that code enforcement officer Todd Hoffman had acquired aerial footage of Tatum’s property and saw evidence of cannabis cultivation including large AC units running on a “relatively cool (53 degrees Fahrenheit) spring morning.” He also noted obscured windows “presumably to stop the entry of light, and create a vestibule entryway,” another hallmark of indoor cannabis cultivation.
Hoffman’s declaration details additional unpermitted construction, but it is largely focused on suspected cannabis violations. Hoffman cited Tatum’s federal conviction related to “a series of traffic stops and marijuana robberies,” and attached Tatum’s federal indictment.
Sonoma County Superior Court Judge Shelly J. Averill signed the inspection warrant (PDF)
Code enforcement officials were accompanied by a Sonoma County deputy sheriff to search Tatum’s Santa Rosa property. Tatum told inspectors that “the front barn was being rented out to an acquaintance for the purpose of growing cannabis,” according to documents, and that he did not have the key. The barn’s electricity was supplied through an unpermitted trench running from Tatum’s 6,000-square-foot agricultural structure.
“I could smell the strong odor of cannabis,” Hoffman noted in documents.
At some point, Hargis arrived to let inspectors into the barn, where three rooms for cultivating cannabis had been constructed. Inspectors found (PDF) about 500 plants growing in one of the rooms, documents show. A second room had “an abundance of black trash bags full of recently harvested and dried stems.” The third, smaller room contained four or five large “mother plants” for the purpose of cloning.
“I mean, you don’t have a thousand marijuana plants so that you can treat glaucoma,” said Schwaiger, who questioned why the county didn’t bring charges against Tatum.
Code enforcement manager Tyra Harrington said it’s county policy to treat cannabis cultivation as a land-use issue not a criminal matter, even though state law still forbids the unlicensed commercial cultivation and sales of marijuana.
Harrington said her department does not investigate potential illicit cannabis sales or tax evasion issues. She pointed out that the sheriff was part of the inspection, and if they considered it “a criminal matter, they certainly would have taken action at the time.”
Sgt. Juan Valencia, spokesperson for the sheriff’s office, said cannabis enforcement “has nothing to do with us,” and that a deputy was present simply to provide security in case the property owner had guns or resisted in some way. He referred all questions to Harrington’s department.
The Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office said in an email it did not receive “any police reports” about Tatum or Hargis’s cannabis violations.
“Mr. Tatum told me that he was growing cannabis for the money and as well as renting out the trailers for the money,” Harrington said. She said she had no interaction with Hargis. Tatum removed the plants within one day and paid the fine.
Harrington said Tatum’s property is still out of compliance with other county codes. In March 2024, inspectors found a host of additional violations, including unpermitted barn extensions, electrical service to the agricultural barn and three travel trailers being used as housing. She said Tatum has been working with the code enforcement ombudsman and the building and planning department to try and bring everything into compliance.
“ I’m not a big fan of locking people up in boxes,” Schwaiger said. “But I’m a lot less of a fan of the hypocrisy attendant to this kind of a case where you have someone charged with enforcing the law and who has put countless people in jail for the exact same thing now profiting off of it.
“That makes me want to puke.”
Earlier Chapters:
- Former Undercover Officer Involved in Developing Cannabis Products Accuses Hopland Tribal Police Chief of Theft, Corruption, and Civil Rights Violations
- Outraged: One Man’s Two Month Quest From the FBI to the ATF to Expose What He Says Are Corrupt Police Officers in Mendocino County
- Rohnert Park Police Officers Being Investigated Following Two Incidents Where Humboldt County Cannabis Was Seized Under Suspicious Circumstances
- ‘Highway Robbery’: Drivers Allege Rohnert Park Police Illegally Seized Cannabis, Cash
- What Happened to 800 Pounds of Marijuana Seized by Rohnert Park Police?
- City of Rohnert Park Hires Police Practices Expert to Address Corruption Allegations
- Former Rohnert Park Police Sergeant Faces Credibility Questions as He Testifies in Court This Week
- Rohnert Park Police Officer Accused of Misconduct in Case Involving Pounds of Humboldt County Marijuana Agrees to Resign for $75,000
- City of Rohnert Park Settles for $415,000 in Lawsuit Alleging Its Officers Stole Cannabis From Travelers Just After a Second Suit Alleging More Corruption Was Filed
- Another Settlement in Case First Reported Here of Rohnert Park Officers Illegally Seizing Cash and Cannabis
- Two Rohnert Park Police Officers Named in the Case Involving Theft of Humboldt County Marijuana Indicted in Federal Court This Morning
- US Attorney’s Office Brings Charges Against Two Rohnert Park Police Officers in Story We Broke Here
- Former Sergeant and Head of a Drug Interdiction Team Pleads Guilty to Charges Resulting From Law Enforcement Officers Stealing Humboldt CO. Cannabis
- Lawsuit Alleges Members of CDFW and Mendocino County Sheriff’s Dept Conspired to Steal Marijuana, Guns, and Cash
- Cash, Guns and Cannabis Highlighted in Civil Case Amended Against Top Law Enforcement Officials in Mendocino County Last Week
- Five Years Ago This Month, Police Officers Robbed a Texas Man in Mendocino County; One Suspect Now Faces New Charges
- Two Officers Outed on This Website Now on California’s POST Decertification List
Join the discussion! For rules visit: https://kymkemp.com/commenting-rules
Comments system how-to: https://wpdiscuz.com/community/postid/10599/
“This looks bad….”
Duh!!!
Now that illegal cultivation or sales of any amount of weed is a misdemeanor Sonoma County’s practice of treating it like a code violation makes sense – and unlike Humboldt County, Sonoma is treating it like a normal code violation without weed only extortionist fines.
And the first reporting by KQED may have been in 2018 but RHBB readers know the first reporting was by RHBB and Kym Kemp, without whose efforts the crooked cops likely never would have been prosecuted.
They’ll get them later. Code violations and fines become enforceable through abatements and property liens later if not taken care of. What’s a “damn, should I have not done that?” misdemeanor can cost you your home and land later. That’s how the county will get you. Easily fixed but not if you ignore it.
It is interesting to me that for young people, growing marijuana and selling drugs is still an attractive way to break bad…
I sincerely doubt that Tatum just started to do this, but how far back it all goes will probably not be revealed…
I still don’t like the original fracas that started off the investigation, don’t believe Zeke Flatten, and feel that a conspiracy to distribute and confiscate cannabis existed for years, but I also believe that Zeke got paid by making a fuss and causing these officers to be fired and tried…
It’s a remarkable story, but the rest of the department and the government responsibles also need to be investigated, and fired…
Tatum is a straight up crooked cop, and will end up incarcerated.
Flatten has admitted he was illegally transporting weed – and it probably wasn’t for his migraines – but there’s zero doubt Tatum and Huffaker were profiling and ripping off travelers – the untold part of the story is who was moving the weed for them?
But was it 3 pounds or 80?
A hell of a lot has never been told, and will doubtlessly never be intimated towards at all…
It is a big conspiracy, but nobody is revealing the actual level of the crimes, or who committed them…
I refuse to re-read all those posts, but my opinions are clear, in every one of them, in the comment section…
3 pounds in Flatten’s case – but possibly 800 pounds or more in total.
That was there meth raid(crusin for a bust andersen valley advertiser)
Flatten was within the area permitted at the time. He contacted law enforcement and reported the theft. The changing in laws meant that he could safely do so unlike the dozens (if not hundreds) of other growers who were ripped off.
But yes, the big story is who were all the cops in on this from the illegal seizure, to the coverup, to the sales. There was an interesting amount of unexpected retirements that occurred in law enforcement in the area around this time.
Like POM I’m not gonna re-read all the previous posts but I believe Flatten has admitted he wasn’t legal at the time he was ripped off – but his risk for speaking up was limited to a misdemeanor at the max.
And with the possible exception of former Mendo Sheriff and Under Sheriff Allman and Johnson there’s no credible evidence against any other law enforcement officers – not sayin’ it didn’t (and doesn’t) happen but no one has yet produced proof.
Specifically, Flatten et al failed to provide any proof in the lawsuit referenced in the stories above (“Lawsuit Alleges….” and “Cash, Guns and Cannabis Highlighted….”) — and as a result, despite the sensational (but unsubstantiated) claims alleged in the lawsuit, it was dismissed “without leave to amend” — and unlike the Humboldt abatement case – the ruling tossing the lawsuit was upheld on appeal.
No one has been arrested BUT there were two officers at Zeke’s stops (plus other officers named in Rico suit and that I spoke to their victims myself). Tatum wasn’t one of the officers at Zeke’s stop. Only Huffaker has been charged. Sooo there is at the minimum, one other officer known to be involved. And I want explanations (I’ve had a request into the CHP since 2018) for explanations for the misinformation stated by two CHP officers who alleged that they were at Zeke’s stop (they weren’t. One was a rookie who wasn’t even on the job at that time. His first day out on the job was about two weeks later. He no longer works there) and that doesn’t cover the flurry of retirements and medical leaves that ran through law enforcement departments that were connected. Officers I spoke to that put in for surprising retirement requests within a week to several months of speaking to me.
You keep conflating what happened to Flatten at the hands of Tatum and Huffaker with the vast but unproven conspiracy alleged in his second lawsuit that was tossed for lack of a scintilla of evidence.
Only Flatten says Bruce Smith was part of his stop – but he previously alleged it was the Hopland Tribal Police Chief – again, no evidence, no proof.
And his tag-along co-plaintiffs in the bogus Rico lawsuit may have been victims but they were busted pursuant to search warrants (two cases) and a highway stop by the CHP (one case) – these are all night and day from what Tatum and Huffaker were doing – but you may be a tad too close to the industry to recognize the discrepancies objectively.
Has Tatum said he wasn’t part of Flatten’s stop? – Because otherwise there’s no proof of an additional crooked officer.
Bruce Smith has been ripping off growers in Mendocino for decades. Well-known in the hills and towns. Along with the other members of the Mendocino Narcotics Task Force. Kicking down doors, holding people at gunpoint, no warrants just there to steal the cash and the drugs…
I don’t comment too often when these articles come out but sometimes it gets the better of me, As you read through all the previous articles and comments, don’t forget to look at the comments section on this one.
https://kymkemp.com/2024/06/07/promo-released-for-documentary-on-the-2005-murder-of-cannabis-activist-les-crane-near-laytonville/#comments
Our RICO case did not die because we did not have merit (or evidence) but because the 9th Circuit upheld Illston’s ruling simply because marijuana is illegal federally and therefore we had no damages to claim. I previously included the entire 9th Circuit Ruling in the comments of the above linked Les Crane article.
And yes, Tatum has stated that he was not at my robbery on December 5, 2017. This is referred to in the Indictment and Superseding Indictment and also several other briefs and motions that can find on Pacer.gov. Tatum looks nothing like Bruce Smith or Steve Hobb, but Smith and Hobb look like they could brothers.
You are a hero, as is Kym! Thanks for your service ??
Excerpt from Government’s UNITED STATES’ MOTION IN LIMINE NO. 1 RE ADMISSION OF DEFENDANT’S PROFFER FOR IMPEACHMENT OR IN REBUTTAL CASE dated 09/05/2023
Read line 14.
“B. Extortion Under Color of Official Right
11 By Indictment and subsequent Superseding Indictment, filed on December 13, 2022, Defendant
12 is also charged with two counts of extortion under color of official right in Counts Two and Three,
13 relating to events occurring on December 5 and 18, 2017. The evidence presented at trial will show that
14 on December 5, 2017, Defendant and another unknown officer pulled over victim E.F., told E.F. that
15 they were ATF agents, and extorted approximately three pounds of marijuana from him. The evidence
16 presented at trial will further show that on December 18, 2017, Defendant and Tatum pulled over victim
17 B.L., told B.L. that they were ATF agents, and extorted approximately 23 pounds of marijuana from
18 him. Tatum was also charged in and pled guilty to Count Three of the Indictment relating to the events
19 on December 18, 2017.”
Thanks for your comments. If Tatum wasn’t present when you were ripped off on 12/5/17 then you and Kym are correct — there’s at least one more crooked cop out there — but still no proof beyond your say so that it’s Bruce Smith.
And it’s true — the 9th circuit denied your appeal on technical grounds — but two things can be true at the same time — it’s hard to get around Judge Illston’s blunt assessment the spectacular allegations were unsupported by evidence and the lawsuit failed to credibly allege any RICO violations — therefore her rejection of the case without leave to amend.
To quote from Judge Ilston’s decision tossing the RICO case without leave to amend:
“[The] complaint does not contain any plausible, non- conclusory, non-speculative allegations of criminal activity.”
And:
”The allegations, though lengthy and quite interesting are conclusory and speculative at best and just don’t amount to a RICO claim.”
Although the Appellate court rejected the appeal on technical grounds, Judge Ilston’s decision leaves little doubt as to the outcome had the appeal been decided on it’s merits.
One thing to check on is whether going out on disability from public service is tax free or not compared with regular longevity retirement. Another inducement along with an unreported, laundered, cash advance.
Upvote still not working. Excellent job, Kym.
I’m thinking he will keep his cell neat and tidy while incarcerated. I’m very impressed with his orderly grow room…nice job Jacy!
You must not know much to be commenting.he did it for sure i have proof of all his other friends who do to.they’ve swept me under the rug so it doesn’t become a national embarrassment.if they would like i can post there tow truck warrants etc.since they threw this out shortly after the real proof came in.itll come out the oig isn’t the fbi or black asphalt desert snow or the BNE connection.5houses in Hawaii on a sheriffs salary.maybe i guess hobsal makes almost 600k a year
Pot is the devil’s weed
death penalty.
Glass house, the largest farm in California, is owned by a ex cop and a capitalist pretend hippie Tommy chong.
Fuck Tommy Chong
Why?
“…said it was hard to imagine how the former drug interdiction specialist could fail to notice cannabis cultivation on his own property.”
That’s an easy one: you don’t. But that’s the answer you give out when the cameras are on you.
Wouldn’t it be nice if the law applied equally to the good? guys and the bad guys? I blame slacker DA’s and slayer judges.
Anyone else would have had their bail revoked, and be awaiting sentencing day locked in jail.
It almost seems like since it’s a group of law enforcement officers that considers themselves to be a brotherhood that it almost falls into the category of racketeering even though people were not physically harmed or property damaged but stolen in exchange for being incarcerated and having there vehicle impounded and fined.
Oh he’s just a regular family guy…trying to make some extra money to square away his family before he goes to prison…. Just like the people whose lives he destroyed! There are too many sarcastic jokes to be ,made right here I can’t even begin…What a douche! Top it off with he is testifying against his partner what a slimy narc ripoff…
It was just a Mom and Cop operation
Points!
Why in the hell would a cop risk his career to grow some shit that had the street value of tomatoes or corn these days? Something ain’t adding up!
Did you read the story?
He’s not a cop — he was fired for being a crooked cop and put on a list that prohibits him from working as a cop in the future.
Pardon me… let me rephrase that: “Lol! Only in California would a disgraced ex-cop turn to dope dealing to our kids and disadvantaged folks and not be locked up!”
In the meantime, real farmers are like, “They grow WHAT in California?!” Ain’t no money in that and it grows in the ditches around here untended!”
Disgraced ex cops turning into to drug dealers is a pretty old trope.
Usually the thing that gets them disgraced and turns them in EX cops is their partnership or participation with drug dealers or other elements of organized crime.
No one gets locked up for growing some weed in their barn anymore. We’ll see if he gets locked up for his crimes while in uniform
Tatum was fired, pled guilty in 2021, and keeps having his sentencing put off until after Huffaker’s trial. (He supposed to testify against him.) Huffaker has the worst luck in attorneys I’ve ever heard of. One died. In any case his trial has been put off for about 5 years. Thus Tatum’s sentencing is being put off. While it’s put off, Tatum apparently grew to make a little extra.
He’s a slimy, dishonest, snitch who’s clearly still benefiting from playing both sides of cell bars. Most law enforcement fits into exactly that header on the excel sheet
And Leos wonder why there is so much contempt for the law.
Knowone cares about you going to prison where you belong.your buddies should come take your kids now like you guys do to normal ppl.your a joke like your other buddies
Living right next door to Rohnert Park, I occasionally recall this case that Kym stuck her reporting neck out for, and have since been a small time donator to this news service. To those who haven’t setup a recurring donation, please do so.
Trained by Bruce Smith and Derek Hendry’s father.
That’s been the word in the street.