From Newsgroup: alt.law-enforcement

A former Yolo County SheriffAs Office lieutenant is one of five people
charged with murder following a fireworks warehouse explosion that killed seven workers in the rural Northern California community of Esparto last summer, authorities said.

Samuel Machado is accused of illegally having 1 million pounds of
fireworks on his property at the time of the blast and using his law enforcement position to shield the illicit operation from scrutiny for
years, according to the Yolo County district attorneyAs office.

Machado was placed on administrative leave following the violent July 1 explosion, which was felt by residents up to 20 miles away, destroyed a
family farm and sparked a 78-acre grass fire.

Devastating Pyrotechnics LLC and Blackstar Fireworks, Inc., are accused of manufacturing and storing explosives u including some too powerful to even
be legally considered fireworks u on MachadoAs property. On Friday, Yolo County Dist. Atty. Jeff Reisig announced a 30-count felony indictment had
been filed against seven people connected to the blast, following the
largest investigation heAs seen in two decades at the office. A separate five-count felony indictment was filed against an eighth defendant,
MachadoAs wife.

The most serious counts are seven second-degree murder charges u one for
each of the warehouse workers who died.

An investigative report filed by a Yolo County civil grand jury last month stated that various top county authorities were aware of the sprawling
illegal operation for at least three years prior to the lethal explosion,
yet failed to take action.

A county Building Services Department official received a tip that the property was being used by two pyrotechnics businesses in June 2022,
according to the report. Department officials wrote in emails that they
would inspect the site, but noted they would otread lightlyo as the
property was owned by odeputies that we work with.o

oInexplicably, no code enforcement occurred, even though all dangerous fireworks had been banned by ordinance throughout rural Yolo County since 2001,o the report states. oIn the absence of official oversight and enforcement, unmitigated expansion of the fireworks businesses operating
at the site in Esparto led directly to death and destruction.o

In addition to Machado, the owner of Devastating Pyrotechnics, Kenneth
Chee, operations manager Jack Lee and business partner Gary Chan Jr. all
were charged with murder, as was Douglas Tollefsen of Blackstar Fireworks, Inc.

MachadoAs wife, Tammy, was working at the SheriffAs Office in an administrative position at the time of the blast. She also has been placed
on leave and was charged in a separate indictment with child and animal endangerment for allegedly storing illegal fireworks at their property, as well as tax fraud and mortgage fraud.

The 30-count indictment alleges a decadelong conspiracy that oturned the property of a former SheriffAs Lieutenant Sam Machado into the Northern California hub for an illegal enterprise that imports illegal explosives
on the black market,o Yolo County Deputy Dist. Atty. Clara Nabity said at
a Friday news conference.

Devastating Pyrotechnics is accused of expanding its footprint from 13
storage containers on MachadoAs property in 2015 to more than 50
containers and a 5,000-square-foot warehouse in 2025.

During that period, the enterprise allegedly imported more than 11 million pounds of explosives and related materials onto a site located near
residents and a family pool, Nabity said. None of the storage containers
were licensed by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives,
and there are no licenses that permit the storage of explosives near homes
and public roadways, Nabity said.

Other counts filed in the indictments include charges for having a
dangerous workplace, unlawfully causing a fire, insurance fraud, child endangerment, animal cruelty, tax fraud and possession of illegal assault weapons.

Seven people charged in connection with the explosion were arrested in a sweeping operation early Thursday morning, Reisig said, including
Blackstar Fireworks owner Craig Cutright. Ronald Botelho III, who worked
for Blackstar, has been in custody since December on separate charges, the Associated Press reported, and on Thursday was charged for his alleged
role in the explosion.

Chee, the owner of Devastating Pyrotechnics, was arrested in Orlando, Fla. Jail records obtained by Monterey Bay area news station KSBW indicate that
he was apprehended at Disney World.

The defendants are scheduled to be arraigned Monday, Reisig said. Chee and another defendant who was arrested outside the county will be arraigned
once they have been transferred to local custody, he added.

oThis investigation has thus far involved dozens, maybe hundreds of law enforcement agencies around the state and the country,o Reisig said. oIt
has taken us across California, itAs taken us across the nation and itAs
even taken us across our national borders.o

The seven workers killed in the explosion were identified as Christopher Goltiao Bocog, 45, and Neil Justin Li, 41, of San Francisco; Joel Jeremias Melendez, 28, of Sacramento; Carlos Javier Rodriguez-Mora, 43, of San
Andreas; brothers Jesus Manaces Ramos, 18, and Jhony Ernesto Ramos, 22, of
San Pablo; and Angel Mathew Voller, 18, of Stockton, according to the Yolo County coronerAs office.

The families of the victims filed a $35-million claim against the county
and state fireworks regulators alleging widespread negligence for allowing
the illegal operation to continue.

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-04-10/ex-sheriffs- lieutenant-among-5-charged-in-california-fireworks-blast
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