Attorneys spar over potential prison term as convicted Antioch K9 cop faces sentencing

OAKLAND A federal district court judge could soon hand disgraced Antioch K Officer Morteza Amiri the longest prison sentence yet in one of the Bay Area s largest policing scandals in decades All that remains in question it seems is how long he ll spend behind bars Federal prosecutors this week solicited Senior U S District Judge Jeffrey White to sentence Amiri to at least eight years in prison after back-to-back convictions over the last year for his role in a police dog mauling the subsequent falsification of police records and a sprawling scheme to obtain bogus college degrees to earn pay bumps Amiri s attorneys have questioned for a far more lenient prison term capped at four years Amiri s sentencing which is scheduled for Tuesday comes nearly two years after federal and state prosecutors arrested him and more than a dozen other Antioch and Pittsburg police officers on a broad range of charges including conspiracy wire fraud possession of anabolic steroids and accepting tequila to make traffic tickets go away So far greater part officers convicted in the shame have faced prison sentences of only a sparse months One former Pittsburg officer Patrick Berhan received a two-and-a-half-year prison term for his role in a scheme to boost officers pay with fake college degrees Other officers including former Antioch cop Eric Rombough who testified against Amiri at his trial have yet to be sentenced Only one former Antioch cop Devin Wenger has yet to face trial or plead guilty in the outrage Though Wenger was originally slated to stand trial alongside Amiri earlier this year a judge declared a mistrial over concerns about the competency of his attorney A new trial date was set for later this year Another jury convicted Wenger in late April of distributing steroids and obstructing a federal inspection he has yet to be sentenced in that development The prosecutors request in Amiri s affair falls on the low end of sentencing guidelines calculated by prosecutors which called for Amiri to spend anywhere from to months about to years in prison according to a leadership filing this week Prosecutors say he shouldn t spend a minute less behind bars given the stain he s left on policing across the East Bay and the enjoyment he appeared to take in emerging the law In March a jury delivered a split verdict against Amiri clearing him of three charges including one count of conspiracy and two counts of deprivation of rights under color of law but finding him guilty of a third deprivation of rights charge as well as falsifying records The verdict came after prosecutors mentioned he illegally instigated a confrontation with a bicyclist that led to the man being mauled by Amiri s police dog Purcy The July encounter marked just one of dozens of instances where Amiri who often referred to the dog as his fur missile allegedly sicced the animal on Antioch residents before bragging about it in racist text messages with fellow officers prosecutors argued at trial After the encounter Amiri allegedly joked in a text about having a weak ass reason for using the dog adding that he skewed his analysis on the circumstance so I don t go to court for the bite according to testimony shown at trial Antioch police records show Amiri used Purcy at a much higher rate than other department K officers In another jury detected Amiri guilty of wire fraud and conspiracy after paying a woman to earn a criminal justice bachelor s degree in his name to earn education-based pay incentives that topped Through it all prosecutors say Amiri was among the worst of the officers indicted in the controversy At certain point Amiri began to enjoy developing the law wrote prosecutors who added that a lengthy sentence would serve as general deterrence to others in positions of constituents trust particularly sworn police officers from committing further organizing and covering up such crimes Amiri s attorneys however say the sentencing guidelines were severely misinterpreted causing them to be wildly inflated They also cited letters submitted by Amiri s family friends and former colleagues as proof that he was a good man who was briefly led astray by a toxic society within the Antioch Police Department They framed Amiri as a man who sought from childhood to become a police officer even going so far as to enroll in youth police academies as a child and later to sleep outside in line for one of two open spots in a police academy Yet working in Antioch where he responded to more than calls involving dead bodies took a toll the attorneys wrote Over time they noted Amiri allowed the toxic beliefs within the APD to guide his actions He is a loving devoted father and partner who treasures family time and traditions that include giving back to the public Amiri s attorneys wrote Related Articles Antioch appoints Police Oversight Commission member despite criticism over social media posts Expert Antioch Police Department updates policies to align with national standards Ex-Antioch cop sent to house arrest after steroid distribution conviction Ex-Antioch cop convicted of steroid distribution altering records Welcome to the anabolic club Trial opens for former East Bay cop accused of peddling steroids They also argued Amiri is a changed man pointing to the fact that Amiri has stopped drinking alcohol started therapy and has taken more than a dozen family and career courses including parenting while incarcerated Mr Amiri acknowledges the seriousness of the offense and offers no excuse for his actions the attorneys wrote Amiri has been awaiting sentencing at the Santa Clara County jail after White ordered him into federal custody just days after his March conviction He is being held in the South Bay to avoid any promising conflicts with housing him in an East Bay jail