"Thursday's verdict marks the beginning of the end of the scandal that rocked Contra Costa County law enforcement in 2023, when an FBI investigation into criminal activity in Antioch's police department unearthed a trove of racist and misogynistic text messages and led to a variety of charges against 14 former Antioch and Pittsburg officers. The other thirteen officers have been convicted of crimes ranging from excessive force to distribution of steroids and fraud for faking college degrees to get pay raises."
"Amiri and Wenger originally stood trial for the conspiracy charge together in March, but when Wenger's mistrial was declared, his trial continued. That jury acquitted Amiri of the conspiracy charge, though he was found guilty of using excessive force when he deployed his K-9, Purcy, on a man unnecessarily in 2019 and later falsified records of the incident. He was sentenced to seven years in prison for those crimes in June."
An FBI investigation into criminal activity in the Antioch Police Department uncovered racist and misogynistic text messages and prompted charges against 14 former Antioch and Pittsburg officers. Thirteen of those officers have been convicted of crimes including excessive force, steroid distribution, and fraud for falsifying college credentials to obtain pay raises. Amiri and Wenger were tried on a conspiracy charge; Wenger’s mistrial led to a separate trial. A jury acquitted Amiri of conspiracy but found him guilty of deploying his K-9 unnecessarily in 2019 and falsifying records, resulting in a seven-year sentence. Wenger sued the department alleging retaliation and maintains his innocence; that lawsuit remains pending.
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