By Sergeant James Stenger #3604, Antioch Police Violent Crimes Unit (Investigations Bureau)

On May 21, 2019 at approximately 10:48 PM, the Antioch Police Department responded to Sutter Delta Medical Center on Lone Tree Way for two male victims, who arrived at the emergency room with gunshot wounds. A 19-year-old Antioch male succumbed to his injuries at Sutter Delta Medical Center, and an 18-year-old Antioch male was transferred to a trauma center and is in stable condition at this time.

It was determined the two victims were at Memorial Field Park on Putnam Street in Antioch when at least one male approached their vehicle and started firing rounds into their car. The 18-year-old male was able to drive away and drove directly to Sutter Delta Medical Center.

The Antioch Police Investigations Unit is currently investigating this case and evidence is being collected at this time.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Antioch Police Department non-emergency line at (925) 778-2441. You may also text-a-tip to 274637 (CRIMES) using the key word ANTIOCH.

By Sergeant James Stenger #3604, Antioch Police Violent Crimes Unit (Investigations)

On Sunday, May 19, 2019 at approximately 2:48 AM, the Antioch Police Department responded to a disturbance in the 4500 block of Big Horn Court. Antioch patrol officers arrived on scene and located a deceased 30-year-old female inside of a residence. The female had suspicious injuries that appeared to be the cause her death.

A 32-year-old male is being questioned as a person of interest in this homicide. This appears to be an isolated incident and there is no threat to the public.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Antioch Police Department non-emergency line at (925) 778-2441. You may also text-a-tip to 274637 (CRIMES) using the key word ANTIOCH.

2 more from Pittsburg, 2 from Bay Point

By U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of California

SAN FRANCISCO – Thirteen defendants were indicted on narcotics trafficking charges, announced United States Attorney David L. Anderson and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Special Agent in Charge Chris D. Nielsen.  The indictment follows the arrest of five of the defendants on April 30, 2019, and the execution of search warrants at thirteen locations, including nine residences in Contra Costa County, Humboldt County, Fairfield, Suisun City and Modesto.  

Three defendants are from Antioch including 66-year-old Lorenzo Lee, 63-year-old Deborah Polk and 40-year-old Timothy Peoples. Two others from Pittsburg were indicted, 46-year-old Jeffrey McCoy and 38-year-old Deshawnte Gamboa, as well as 57-year-old Anthony Brown and 26-year-old Evan Martinez-Diaz, both of Bay Point

All thirteen defendants were charged in a single indictment which charges controlled substance offenses involving methamphetamine, heroin, fentanyl, cocaine and cocaine base. The defendants and the charges pending against them are as follows:

Defendant	Age	Residence	Charges	Maximum Statutory Penalty
LORENZO LEE, a/k/a “O.G.”	66	Antioch, California	Conspiracy to Distribute and Possess with Intent to Distribute Controlled Substances (Count 1)   21 U.S.C. § 846	Not less than 10 years imprisonment and up to life   Not less than 5 years supervised release and up to life   $10 million fine
			Distribution of and Possession with Intent to Distribute Controlled Substances, Including Cocaine, Cocaine Base, Methamphetamine, and Heroin (Counts 4, 7, and 13-15)   21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1)	Not less than 10 years imprisonment and up to life   Not less than 5 years supervised release and up to life   $10 million fine
JEFFREY MCCOY	46	Pittsburg, California	Conspiracy to Distribute and Possess with Intent to Distribute Controlled Substances (Count 1)   21 U.S.C. § 846	Not less than 5 years imprisonment and up to 40 years imprisonment   Not less than 4 years supervised release and up to life   $5 million fine
			Distribution of Controlled Substances, Including Cocaine Base, Cocaine, and Heroin (Counts 2-7 and 9)   21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1)	Not less than 5 years imprisonment and up to 40 years imprisonment   Not less than 4 years supervised release and up to life   $5 million fine
ANTHONY BROWN, a/k/a “Ant Man”	57	Bay Point, California	Conspiracy to Distribute and Possess with Intent to Distribute Controlled Substances (Count 1)   21 U.S.C. § 846	Not less than 5 years imprisonment and up to 40 years imprisonment   Not less than 4 years supervised release and up to life   $5 million fine
			Distribution of Cocaine Base   21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) (Count 7)	Not less than 5 years imprisonment and up to 40 years imprisonment   Not less than 4 years supervised release and up to life   $5 million fine
DESHAWNTE GAMBOA	38	Pittsburg, California	Conspiracy to Distribute and Possess with Intent to Distribute Controlled Substances (Count 1)   21 U.S.C. § 846	Not less than 5 years imprisonment and up to 40 years imprisonment   Not less than 4 years supervised release and up to life   $5 million fine
			Distribution of Heroin (Count 9)   21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1)	Not less than 5 years imprisonment and up to 40 years imprisonment   Not less than 4 years supervised release and up to life   $5 million fine
DEBORAH POLK	63	Antioch, California	Conspiracy to Distribute and Possess with Intent to Distribute Controlled Substances (Count 1)   21 U.S.C. § 846	Not less than 5 years imprisonment and up to 40 years imprisonment   Not less than 4 years supervised release and up to life   $5 million fine
			Possession with Intent to Distribute Heroin (Count 15)   21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1)	Not less than 5 years imprisonment and up to 40 years imprisonment   Not less than 4 years supervised release and up to life   $5 million fine
			Maintaining a Drug-Involved Premises (Count 16)   21 U.S.C. § 856(a)(2)	20 years imprisonment   3 years supervised release   $500,000 fine
EVAN MARTINEZ-DIAZ	26	Bay Point, California	Conspiracy to Distribute and Possess with Intent to Distribute Controlled Substances (Count 1)   21 U.S.C. § 846	Not less than 10 years imprisonment and up to life   Not less than 5 years supervised release and up to life   $10 million fine
			Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine and Cocaine (Counts 13 and 14)   21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1)	Not less than 10 years imprisonment and up to life   Not less than 5 years supervised release and up to life   $10 million fine
MAGO AGUILAR-PACHECO	38	West Covina, California	Conspiracy to Distribute and Possess with Intent to Distribute Controlled Substances (Count 1)   21 U.S.C. § 846	Not less than 5 years imprisonment and up to 40 years imprisonment   Not less than 4 years supervised release and up to life   $5 million fine
CESAR ALVARADO	38	Desert Springs, California	Conspiracy to Distribute and Possess with Intent to Distribute Controlled Substances (Count 1)   21 U.S.C. § 846	Not less than 10 years imprisonment and up to life   Not less than 5 years supervised release and up to life   $10 million fine
			Possession with Intent to Distribute Cocaine, Heroin, and Methamphetamine (Counts 11-14)   21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1)	Not less than 10 years imprisonment and up to life   Not less than 5 years supervised release and up to life   $10 million fine
JESSE LOPEZ, III	30	Fowler, California	Possession with Intent to Distribute Fentanyl (Count 8)   21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1)	Not less than 10 years imprisonment and up to life   Not less than 5 years supervised release and up to life   $10 million fine
JOSE DELGADILLO, a/k/a “Tepa”	41	Fairfield, California	Conspiracy to Distribute and Possess with Intent to Distribute Controlled Substances (Counts 1 and 10)   21 U.S.C. § 846	Not less than 10 years imprisonment and up to life   Not less than 5 years supervised release and up to life   $10 million fine
MARCO DELGADILLO, a/k/a “Tonio”	39	Fairfield, California	Conspiracy to Distribute and Possess with Intent to Distribute Controlled Substances (Count 10)   21 U.S.C. § 846	Not less than 10 years imprisonment and up to life   Not less than 5 years supervised release and up to life   $10 million fine
LUIS TORRES-GARCIA, a/k/a “Guero”	33	Rio Dell, California	Conspiracy to Distribute and Possess with Intent to Distribute Controlled Substances (Count 10)   21 U.S.C. § 846	Not less than 10 years imprisonment and up to life   Not less than 5 years supervised release and up to life   $10 million fine
TIMOTHY PEOPLES, a/k/a “Tee”	40	Antioch, California	Possession with Intent to Distribute Cocaine and Cocaine Base (Counts 17 and 18)   21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1)	Not less than 5 years imprisonment and up to 40 years imprisonment   Not less than 4 years supervised release and up to life   $5 million fine

The defendants arrested on April 30, 2019, were originally charged by complaint.  The complaints have been unsealed.  Eight defendants were charged in complaints that were supported by an affidavit describing the underlying investigation (the Affidavit).  In addition, a separate complaint was filed against defendant Timothy Peoples, and that complaint has been unsealed as well.

According to the Affidavit, this investigation started in 2017 and involved the DEA, the United States Internal Revenue Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, Antioch Police Department, Oakley Police Department, and Concord Police Department.  In 2017 and 2018, the investigators used informants to conduct a series of purchases of cocaine, cocaine base and heroin from JEFFREY MCCOY.  In furtherance of their investigation, the agents also obtained federal wiretap orders in 2018 and 2019 to monitor communications over telephones used by the conspirators.

According to the Affidavit, the agents also seized significant quantities of narcotics from various defendants during the investigation.  The following chart summarizes the seizures, which are discussed in more detail in the Affidavit: 

DATE	SEIZED	CIRCUMSTANCES
5/15/2018	4 kg of heroin mixed with fentanyl and $46,000	Seized from courier after leaving LEE’s residence
8/8/2018	18 lbs of methamphetamine	Seized en route to TORRES-GARCIA from Jose DELGADILLO
1/26/2019	2 kg of cocaine	Seized en route to meeting point with LEE
2/9/2019	7 kg of narcotics and $104,505	Seized from courier after leaving LEE’s residence
2/9/2019	20 lbs of methamphetamine and 1 kg of cocaine	Discarded from courier’s vehicle after leaving LEE’s residence

In addition, any sentence following conviction will be imposed by the court only after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553. 

This case was investigated and prosecuted by member agencies of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, a focused multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional task force investigating and prosecuting the most significant drug trafficking organizations throughout the United States by leveraging the combined expertise of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies.

Allen D. Payton contributed to this report.

By Allen Payton

Contra Costa County District Attorney Diana Becton issued a new policy for the DA’s Office focused on immigration. In order to comply with state and federal laws, the office has updated its immigration policy.

“It is important to have a standardized process in place to ensure we meet our obligations under the law. I am confident that with this new policy we can fairly review all options for a disposition while at the same time ensuring we meet the demands to protect the public and victims,” said DA Becton. “Moving forward, cases will be evaluated by our state legislative mandate to ‘consider the avoidance of adverse immigration consequences in the plea negotiation process as one factor in an effort to reach a just resolution.’”

Last July, for the first time ever, the entire DA’s office staff received an in-depth immigration training which focused on the role of prosecutors in considering adverse immigration consequences, i.e. deportation.

The law was changed in California in 2016 and now Penal Code Section 1016.3(b) mandates, “the prosecution … consider the avoidance of adverse immigration consequences in the plea negotiation process as one factor in an effort to reach a just resolution.”

The legislature enacted the law after finding “the immigration consequences of criminal convictions have a particularly strong impact in California. One out of every four persons living in the state is foreign-born. One out of every two children lives in a household headed by at least one foreign-born person. The majority of these children are United States citizens. It is estimated that 50,000 parents of California United States citizen children were deported in a little over two years. Once a person is deported, especially after a criminal conviction, it is extremely unlikely that he or she ever is permitted to return.” (Cal. Penal Code Section 1016.2(g)).

Following are aspects of Becton’s updated policy, under governing law, “consideration of immigration consequences during the plea negotiation process is mandatory” and “victim’s rights must also be included and considered in the plea negotiation process.”

The policy notes that “These internal guidelines are not intended to create any new procedural rights in favor of criminal defendants or to be enforceable in a court of law. Nor shall these guidelines be construed to create any presumptions that a previously sentenced defendant would have received any offer other than that which has already been extended and accepted.

The policy further states, “Prosecutors do not have an obligation to independently research or investigate the adverse immigration consequences that may result from a plea or criminal conviction.” But, they “shall consider adverse immigration consequences presented by the defense.”

In addition, the new policy requires that “the supervising prosecutor…determine based upon the totality of the circumstances if an appropriate disposition can be reached that neither jeopardizes public safety nor leads to disproportionate immigration consequences based on the information provided by the defense.”

According to the new policy, alternative considerations include, “Devising an alternative plea agreement that is factually honest and of a similar nature and consequence to the originally charged offense, but minimizes the defendant’s exposure to adverse immigration consequences;” and “Allowing language to be stricken from a charging document or plea colloquy while maintaining the truthfulness of the remaining charging language.”

Scott Alonso, Public Information Officer, Office of the Contra Costa County District Attorney contributed to this report.

By CHP-Contra Costa

This afternoon, at about 4:34pm, Contra Costa CHP was advised of a head on collision involving two vehicles on HWY-4 eastbound, east of Balfour Road. Upon emergency personnel and CHP arrival, it was determined that a 2018 Honda SUV was driven across the solid double yellow lines, into oncoming traffic, and collided head on into a 2013 Toyota Corolla. The solo male driver of the Toyota (51-year-old man from Ripon) was pronounced deceased at the scene. The Contra Costa County Sheriff-Coroner’s Office will be handling the release of his identity. The solo male driver of the Honda was ultimately arrested for suspicion of felony DUI.

In the initial investigation, it appears that the solo male driver of the Honda was traveling on HWY-4 westbound (in that area HWY-4 is a two lane undivided highway) and then veered to the left and across the solid double yellow lines and directly head on into the Toyota traveling in the eastbound lane. Upon emergency personnel arrival, the driver of the Toyota was pronounced deceased. The driver of the Honda, a 46-year-old man from Concord, was not injured and investigated for driving under the influence of alcohol and was subsequently arrested for suspicion of felony DUI.

If anyone witnessed this collision or the events leading up to it (that did not remain at the scene to speak with CHP) please contact Contra Costa CHP in Martinez, (925) 646-4980. HWY-4 was completely reopened at 6:25 pm.

Impaired DUI driving is 100% preventable 100% of the time. There is never an excuse for it, and it cannot ever be tolerated. In this situation it tragically cost the life of an innocent person. When will we all learn… #neverdriveimpaired?

By Sergeant Matthew Harger #3305, Antioch Police Field Services Bureau

On Sunday, May 6, 2019 at approximately 5:25 pm, Antioch Police Department Officers were dispatched to E. 18th Street near Terrace Drive regarding a solo motorcycle collision. Upon arriving on scene Officers located the motorcycle on the south sidewalk of E. 18th Street with extensive damage.

Officers found the motorcycle driver had been ejected from the motorcycle during the collision and had died from his injuries.   The preliminary investigation appears to indicate excessive speed as the most likely cause in this collision at this time.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Antioch Police Department non-emergency line at (925) 778-2441 or You may also text-a-tip to 274637 (CRIMES) using the key word ANTIOCH.

By Corporal James Colley #4705, Antioch Police Field Services Division

On Friday, May 3, 2019, at approximately 9:36 pm, Antioch Police Department officers were dispatched to the 900 block of W. 7th Street on the report of a shooting. Upon arrival officers located a 49-year-old male suffering from two gunshot wounds. The male was transported to a local Bay Area hospital and is listed in stable condition. Two suspect shooters were seen fleeing the area prior to police arrival and were not located.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Antioch Police Department non-emergency line at (925) 778-2441. You may also text-a-tip to 274637 (CRIMES) using the key word ANTIOCH.

By Antioch Police

Officers came in on Saturday, April 27 to conduct a proactive enforcement detail, and what a day they had! That day’s enforcement efforts lead to seven arrests being made and 3 guns, including a rifle, being taken off the streets! Of those taken into custody, five were gang members as well. All seven suspects will be facing various weapons charges.

Enforcement efforts like today’s have been a regular occurrence in recent weeks, and with how successful they’ve been, will be continuing into the foreseeable future.