Two former Rohnert Park police officers are scheduled to stand trial in federal court in May on charges they extorted cash and cannabis from drivers they stopped on Sonoma County highways, the U.S. Department of Justice said.
According to federal prosecutors, the officers pulled over vehicles along US-101 — a main corridor linking Mendocino and Humboldt counties to the Bay Area — and seized marijuana and cash without filing the required paperwork. Investigators say the officers targeted people transporting cannabis between counties who were unlikely to report the stops to authorities.
Rohnert Park sits roughly 50 miles north of San Francisco, and the stretch of US-101 running through the city is a primary route for cannabis moving south toward the Bay Area.
The alleged abuses drew scrutiny beyond the federal case. A Sonoma County civil grand jury previously issued a report identifying systemic problems in the department’s traffic stop and asset seizure unit.
The federal indictment charges the two former officers with extortion under color of official right, according to the Justice Department. Jury selection and preliminary hearings are set to begin in May.