OAKLAND — Eric Rombough, the former Antioch officer whose words and actions were at the forefront of a massive law enforcement corruption scandal involving more than a dozen cops, has pleaded guilty.
In an agreement with federal prosecutors, 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. Before a federal judge Tuesday afternoon, Rombough formally pleaded guilty to three charges — conspiracy against rights, and two counts of deprivation of rights under color of law.
“I’m here to accept responsibility for what I’ve done and what I’ve been charged with,” Rombough said in court. Later, when asked to describe his crimes in his own words, he said, “Operating as a police officer, I used my authority to injure and intimidate people under the color of authority.”
A proffer by the government, which Rombough agreed was accurate, says that he conspired with two colleagues, ex-officers Devon Wenger and Morteza Amiri but also with “other APD officers” to deprive Antioch residents of their rights. The conspiracy involved pre-planning violence, falsifying police reports, and simply failing to report uses of force, the proffer says.
The plea agreement includes a provision that Rombough could receive a lesser sentence by cooperating with federal prosecutors. Rather than set a sentencing state, the court has scheduled a status conference for after Rombough’s two co-defendants are set to go to trial.
Rombough was at the forefront of two related scandals that have cast a shadow over the Antioch police department since FBI raids targeted several East Contra Costa cops in early 2022.
Out of 14 ex-Antioch and Pittsburg officers charged last year, he was one of four accused of crimes involving force or violence. He was also frequently mentioned in lengthy reports on Antioch officers who exchanged racist, sexist, and homophobic communications, including one where he referred to the former police chief, who is Black, as a “gorilla.”
According to an indictment filed in 2023, Rombough collected trophies from his violence, labeling and collecting less-lethal rubber rounds from a projectile to stand in as stars on an American flag model above a mantle in his Solano County home.
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