Former Antioch police officer pleads guilty to threatening, intimidating residents
OAKLAND, Calif. - A former Antioch police officer at the center of a major police corruption scandal has pleaded guilty to three felonies that he conspired against and deprived people of their rights "under color of law."
Eric Allen Rombough entered his plea in U.S. District Court of Northern California before Judge Jeffrey S. White on Tuesday, court records show. His case had been set for trial in March, but this change of plea ends any chance of a jury hearing what happened.
The East Bay Times was the first to report the news, including that Rombough admitted to conspiring with several other Antioch officers to "injure, oppress, threaten, and intimidate" the people of the city they were supposed to serve.
Rombough admitted to conspiring with two other ex-officers, Devon Wagner and Morteza Amiri, as well as other Antioch police officers to deprive citizens of their rights, including falsifying police reports, failing to report uses of force and pre-planning violence.
Rombough spoke to the judge at his hearing.
"I’m here to accept responsibility for what I’ve done and what I’ve been charged with," Rombough told the judge, according to the East Bay Times.
The judge did not sentence Rombough after he pleaded not guilty. The agreement provides that he could get a more lenient punishment depending on how he helps US attorneys with their cases against Amiri and Wenger, who have pleaded not guilty, and are headed to trial in March.
Rombough was one of 14 former Contra Costa County police officers charged in a federal and state investigation that began in 2023.
The East Bay Times reports that there are many indictments that allege these officers engaged in crimes ranging from bribery, fraudulently obtaining incentive pay, possessing illegal firearms, steroid distribution and interfering with a wiretap of a violent Oakland gang.
Specifically, Rombough was one of four officers accused of crimes involving force or violence – and then collected trophies from these actions to put on his mantle at home, the East Bay Times reported. His name also came up in reports on Antioch officers who texted each other racist, sexist and homophobic communications.
Rombough was represented by attorneys Anthony John Brass, Dale L. Allen Jr. and William J. Edelman.
Earlier this month, Antioch named Joe Vigil to be its third acting police chief in less than a year and a half, and agreed to enter an agreement with the Department of Justice to be placed under federal oversight because of the racist text scandal.