OAKLAND, Calif. – The massive criminal prosecution of ex-East Contra Costa police officers ended Tuesday afternoon in a federal courthouse, with the most paradoxical defendant of the bunch.
Former Antioch police officer Eric Rombough committed more crimes of violence than of his 13 former peers in law enforcement who also faced serious charges. He said racist things to colleagues, joked about hurting Black people in particular, and saved less-lethal rounds he’d used to shoot people as trophies. But later, Rombough admitted everything and aided prosecutors, taking the witness stand twice against officers he once considered friends, and matter-of-factly admitting his crimes in the name of wanting “to be able to look my sons in the eye and tell the truth.”
In the end, Senior U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White landed on a prison sentence of four years and two months for Rombough. It is more than even what prosecutors asked for, but White said without Rombough’s apology and testimony, he likely would have ended up in prison for 75 months or more…