Former Rohnert Park officers face sentencing in Humboldt cannabis theft case

Two former Rohnert Park police officers will face sentencing May 6 in federal court after prosecutors tied them to a Highway 101 cannabis theft scheme that began with traffic stops and rippled into more than $1 million in settlements, civil lawsuits and a deeper public reckoning over police oversight.

Federal prosecutors say the case grew out of the Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety’s interdiction team, which operated from 2014 into early 2017 and was shut down in January 2017. Brendan Jacy Tatum and Joseph Huffaker were assigned to that team at various times between 2015 and January 2017, and prosecutors say they used stops along Highway 101 between Cloverdale and Rohnert Park to seize cannabis and cash from drivers.

The complaint, unsealed March 12, 2021, says body-worn camera footage captured undocumented stops in which the officers allegedly extorted at least $3,700 in cash and significant amounts of marijuana by threatening arrest. Prosecutors say the officers then failed to report the seizures, did not book the marijuana or cash into evidence, and never sought destruction orders for the property.

Huffaker, who worked for the department from 2012 to 2019, was convicted July 11, 2025 after a week-long trial before Senior U.S. District Judge Maxine M. Chesney. A jury found him guilty on six counts, including conspiracy to commit extortion, extortion, conspiracy to falsify records, falsifying records, conspiracy to impersonate a federal officer and impersonating a federal officer. Tatum, who worked for the department from 2003 to 2018, pleaded guilty.

Prosecutors said Huffaker and Tatum falsely claimed to be ATF agents while taking marijuana from drivers and later tried to obstruct justice by sending a false police report to the FBI. One defendant’s attorney is seeking probation with home confinement and community service, and Huffaker’s sentencing was delayed at least once to give his new legal team time to prepare.

The case has carried unusual weight in Humboldt County, where cannabis remains a major part of the local economy and law-enforcement credibility matters to growers, workers and residents alike. Federal prosecutors have argued that misconduct like this does not just target drivers on the roadside; it undermines public safety and the willingness of communities to cooperate with police.

A civil grand jury report later questioned oversight in Rohnert Park law enforcement, adding another layer to a case that has already produced costly settlements and lasting damage to the department’s reputation. With sentencing now set, the court is moving toward a final accounting for a scheme that crossed from a highway stop into a broader breach of public trust.