‘A great role model’: Pittsburg police officers rally around former cop who faces possible prison term for fraud

OAKLAND — Ernesto Mejia-Orozco has lost his job as a Pittsburg police officer and may soon lose his freedom, but he hasn’t lost the respect of numerous former law enforcement colleagues who have rallied behind him with support letters ahead of his federal sentencing hearing.

Mejia-Orozco, a Pittsburg native, pleaded guilty last June to felony charges of wire fraud and criminal conspiracy, related to his participation in a scheme to illegally acquire pay bumps through cheating on tests to earn a college degree. He also faces pending misdemeanor conspiracy charges in Contra Costa, alleging he and other Pittsburg and Antioch officers quashed traffic tickets in exchange for bribes that included bottles of tequila.

But to 10 East Contra Costa law enforcement officers — nine of whom worked with Mejia-Orozco in Pittsburg, and four of whom are lieutenants on the force — Mejia-Orozco is “dependable” and a “great role model,” who “exuded honesty, compassion, integrity, loyalty and more.” He has already been punished by the loss of his job, difficulty finding new employment and media coverage of the overlapping police scandals that led to criminal charges against 14 law enforcement officers in Pittsburg and Antioch, his former colleagues wrote to the court.

“In my opinion, Ernesto got caught up in a desire to be the most he could be by pursuing a higher education, which was highly valued by the police department he worked for. In this pursuit of perfection, Ernesto chose poorly, and most certainly should be accountable for his actions,” Pittsburg police Lt. Les Galer wrote in a support letter. But Galer added that Mejia-Orozco is already, “truly experiencing a type of incarceration that most likely will last with him for the rest of his life.”

Mejia-Orozco was one of six former Pittsburg and Antioch cops charged with paying a woman to take college courses in their names, so that they could get college degrees they didn’t really earn. The end-goal was to obtain pay raises through an incentive program for officers who obtained college degrees, and in so doing the group collectively scammed tens of thousands of dollars from both cities’ coffers, according to prosecutors.

Other officers faced a wide range of charges, from steroid distribution to illegal gun possession, to an assault and civil rights violations case against three ex-Antioch cops. Simultaneously, dozens of former Antioch officers were implicated in a racist and sexist texting scandal that was discovered when the FBI seized the officers’ phones.

On Sept. 17, Mejia-Orozco will stand in court and be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White, who has the power to impose anything from probation to years in federal prison. Prosecutors have asked for a six-month term of incarceration, while the defense is arguing Mejia-Orozco has learned his lesson and that nothing is to be gained from sending him to jail.

“(Mejia-Orozco) has never tried to dodge the truth and make excuses for his behavior,” Pittsburg police Detective Michael Creighton wrote in one support letter.

The alleged ringleader of the scheme, ex-Pittsburg Officer Patrick Berhan, was sentenced by White to two-and-a-half years in federal prison earlier this month. Berhan’s then-fiancee was the woman who took college courses, and White said Berhan’s betrayal of his oath as a police officer factored into the prison sentence, which exceeded even prosecutors’ request. Berhan did not receive the same outpouring of law enforcement support that Mejia-Orozco has received.

Both officers returned money to the city around the time of their summer 2022 resignations, with Berhan writing a $25,000 check and Mejia sending $9,459 back.

Another Pittsburg police lieutenant, William Hatcher, called his former colleague a “mentor” and “diligent team member” who defied the odds by entering law enforcement for his hometown, after growing up in a gang-infested Pittsburg neighborhood.

“Ernesto’s story to this point in life is a textbook example of what our society and community has pleaded for; a police officer who was reflective of the people they were called to serve. Ernesto was a perfect example of that police officer, imperfections included,” Hatcher wrote.

Hatcher and Mejia-Orozco are co-defendants in an active federal suit filed by a man Mejia-Orozco shot during a SWAT standoff in 2022, though one of the legal claims was recently dismissed, records show.

Three other officers who offered Mejia-Orozco public support have been named as co-defendants with him in excessive force lawsuits. These include Lt. Gabriel Palma, who described Mejia-Orozco as a “wonderful man” and the “ultimate family man” and Officer Jonathan Elmore, who noted “I have personally witnessed Ernesto do amazing work to bring justice to countless victims of heinous crimes throughout the years.”

The three, along with Berhan, were sued over the 2016 death of Humberto Martinez, who died after Mejia-Orozco used a since-banned neck hold that cut off the blood to Martinez’s brain. The lawsuit resulted in a $7.3 million payment by the city to Martinez’s family.

Several of the officers noted that they were writing to Judge White as private citizens, not police officers, and all of them expressed shock or disapproval of Mejia-Orozco’s wire fraud scheme. Neither the support letters nor the prosecution or defense court filings acknowledge his less-serious bribery case.

Lt. James Terry, in his support letter, said there was “no excuse” for a police officer to commit a crime and that law enforcement officials should be held to a higher standard. But he said the college-degree scheme was “out of character” and that incarceration would be “devastating” for Mejia-Orozco’s wife and two children.

Brentwood police Officer Exiquio Zepeda closed his support letter with a message of hope for Mejia-Orozco’s future, regardless of the outcome.

“At the end of all this, I know Ernesto will be a better person,” he wrote.