Exclusive: Impugned East Contra Costa cops allegedly schemed to fake college degrees

PITTSBURG – The FBI and state criminal investigation of East Contra Costa police officers began with allegations of cops conspiring to fraudulently obtain college degrees to collect pay bumps, this news organization has learned.

What started out as suspected salary fraud quickly snowballed. On cell phones seized by authorities, investigators uncovered evidence of other potential crimes — and more officers to look into.

Now, with indictments expected by year’s end, the probe has swelled to encompass at least a dozen Antioch and Pittsburg police officers, and a growing list of crimes including premeditated civil rights violations, falsifying reports, using and distributing steroids, using cocaine, and accepting bribes while on patrol.

This picture of rampant criminality in the ranks of law enforcement — with key players connected through a web of personal and professional relationships — is emerging with new clarity through dozens of interviews with law enforcement investigators, fellow police officers, defense attorneys for the suspects, and city officials, most of whom have asked that they not be identified because of the sensitive status of the investigation.

It is the most shocking set of allegations against Bay Area police officers in at least a decade. Already, one Pittsburg officer, Armando Montalvo, has been charged by the Contra Costa District Attorney with possessing and selling assault weapons, while dozens of criminal cases tainted by the participation of rogue police have been thrown out of court. Meanwhile, a federal grand jury is weighing criminal charges against implicated officers, according to the law enforcement sources.

When announcing the joint investigation in March, the FBI and Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office said it involved “crimes of moral turpitude,” a broadly defined legal term that can mean any crime involving dishonesty or depravity.

But the scheme to defraud city governments by getting higher-education degrees — along with details of some other alleged crimes, and the connections among accused officers — has not been publicly disclosed until now.

Multiple law enforcement sources say involved officers from Pittsburg and Antioch allegedly recruited a woman to take online college courses and pass tests in their names, in an attempt to gain pay bumps the departments award to officers with higher learning degrees.

Antioch officers receive a 2.5 percent pay increase for an associate’s degree and 5 percent for a bachelor’s, under the police union contract; the current Pittsburg police agreement includes 5 percent and 10 percent raises for bachelor’s and master’s degrees, respectively, as well as tuition reimbursement.

After receiving a tip about the college degree scheme, investigators snatched cell phones belonging to several officers. On the devices, they discovered text messages among officers that widened the probe to include additional officers suspected of other crimes, including premeditated civil rights violations involving car stops and officers’ use of force, sources said.

According to those sources, one of the officers under investigation for his ties to the college scheme is Patrick Berhan, a Pittsburg officer who joined the force in November 2015. Berhan left the department on June 28 of this year, according to City Manager Garrett Evans.

Another Pittsburg officer, Ernesto Mejia, left a week earlier, Evans confirmed, and according to sources, he is a third officer — in addition to Berhan and Montalvo — whom the FBI and county prosecutors are investigating. Mejia’s attorney confirmed he is a subject of the probe but declined to comment.

Berhan and Mejia are also linked by their involvement in the controversial 2017 restraint death of 32-year-old Humberto Martinez, which led to a federal lawsuit that resulted in a $7.3 million settlement. Martinez died after Mejia put him in a carotid hold, while another officer sat on him, during a struggle inside the kitchen of a Pittsburg home. Martinez had run inside after officers tried to pull him over for a minor traffic violation.

A coroner’s report showed he suffered 16 broken ribs and several bruises. A pathologist noted Martinez had methamphetamine in his system but ruled he died from having the bloodstream to his brain cut off.

According to records released under SB 1421, Berhan had used a stun gun on Martinez but was not immediately separated from the other officers after the incident, as he should have been per a countywide policy intended to ensure the integrity of in-custody death investigations by removing the opportunity for officers to compare their stories. In a mixup, a supervising officer ordered Berhan to isolate another officer, Willie Glasper, apparently unaware both had been involved in the fatal struggle.

A few minutes later, a supervisor realized Berhan had used his stun gun on Martinez and ordered him to isolate as well. By then, Berhan and Glasper, who later would be separately interviewed by internal affairs, had spent several minutes alone in a patrol vehicle, according to police reports released under SB 1421.

Ultimately, none of the officers involved in Martinez’s death were held liable for their actions. This news organization reported earlier that Pittsburg police failed to fully investigate the incident, but the botched investigation protocols have not previously been publicized.

Calls and texts to Berhan’s listed cell phone were not returned and attempts to reach his attorney were unsuccessful. A reporter with this news organization knocked on a door of a house records show belongs to Berhan and left a note, but received no response.

In Antioch, multiple sources have also confirmed that former Officer Daniel Harris — who resigned after the start of the criminal probe — is under investigation but not suspected of civil rights violations, accepting bribes or taking part in the college degree scheme. Harris’ attorney declined to comment.

This news organization has previously confirmed the names of four other officers involved in the federal probe, including Antioch police Officer Eric Rombough and K9 Officer Nicholas Shipilov — who were placed on leave in connection with the investigation — as well as former policeman Timothy Manly, who has worked for both the Antioch and Pittsburg departments.

The fourth officer, Antioch police K9 Officer Morteza Amiri, is also one of the officers suspected of civil rights violations, multiple law enforcement sources have said, including incidents involving his K9 partner, Purcy. Public records indicate Amiri and Berhan were once roommates in East Contra Costa.