‘Ringleader’ of Antioch PD text scandal sentenced to 4 years in prison after accepting plea deal

ANTIOCH, Calif. (KGO) — The last former police officer caught up in a wide-ranging federal civil rights and abuse of power case in Antioch and Pittsburg was sentenced Tuesday to more than four years in prison.

In 2023, 10 officers from the Antioch and Pittsburg police departments were charged with several crimes, including fraud, use of excessive force and conspiracy to distribute anabolic steroids.

Eric Allen Rombough, 46, of Fairfield, a former Antioch officer, was the final defendant to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White.

In January 2025, Rombough pleaded guilty to conspiracy against rights and two counts of deprivation of rights under color of law and agreed to cooperate with the government.

MORE: Antioch police officer in racist texting scandal stands trial in federal case: Here’s what happened

Federal prosecutors said that this type of criminal activity and corruption by people sworn to uphold the law is particularly heinous.

“We entrust law enforcement with vast power, and when they abuse it, they not only betray the oath they took and the community they serve, but they also undermine the public’s trust in our criminal justice system,” U.S. Attorney Craig Missakian said in a news release.

The officers have all now been sentenced to various prison terms or time already served in jail for a wide range of crimes, including falsifying records, wire fraud, civil rights violations, obstruction of justice, improper use of weapons and K9 dogs on suspects, turning off body cams, selling steroids, and paying people to take college classes in order to get raises.

“They called me the crazy lady coming down here (to City Hall), doing the things I was doing. I was only crying for help for what had happened to my son and my family,” says Kathryn Wade, the mother of Malad Baldwin.

Wade says since 2014, she has been fighting for justice for the alleged abuse Baldwin suffered at the hands of Antioch police, in particular, former Rombough.

The defense wanted a three-year sentence. The prosecution was pushing for up to 10 years. The judge sentenced Rombough to four years and two months in federal prison for violating civil rights. Wade says that’s not enough.

“There is no sympathy, there is no empathy for what they did. This is pain that we victims have to live with for the rest our lives,” says Wade.

MORE: Some worried ‘accountability’ may be lacking in DOJ agreement in Antioch PD racist texting scandal

Wade’s son’s abuse was documented in the texting scandal. A years-long FBI investigation into the Antioch police department exposed racist, Islamophobic and homophobic texts that were sent throughout the department, involving high-ranking officials. Forty percent of the Antioch Police Department were put on paid leave. Rombough, who was described as the “ringleader” and the “worst of the worst,” took a plea deal and a lesser sentence to testify against two other officers, Morteza Amiri and Eric Wenger, who were also both convicted.

“We have been privy to a glimpse into a subculture that, I guess, we can best describe as hyper masculine, paramilitary,” says Professor Greg Woods, who teaches about the case in his classes in the Department of Justice Studies at San Jose State University.

Woods says big picture: with many national high-profile cases in which cops are acquitted, Rombough’s sentencing means there was accountability in Antioch.

“It was a targeted approach. A very high-profile example of what it is that happens to police officers who violate that public trust,” says Woods.

“I agree with Judge White. They were terrorists. They were literally domestic terrorists. Police terrorists,” says civil rights attorney Ben Nisenbaum

MORE: Report reveals Antioch officers referred to police chief as ‘gorilla’ in text messages

“Police terrorist” is the language used by presiding federal judge, Jeffrey White, during the sentencing says Nisenbaum. He says Rombough’s confession helped led to the signing of an MOU in December that will Nisenbaum says will transform Antioch into a “constitutional policing model.” Even though the prosecution wanted a longer sentence.

“Is it perfect? Of course not. But I think we are in a good place in terms of moving forward of what the future will be,” explains Nisenbaum.

“I think the sentence was lenient,” suggests attorney Carmela Caramango.

Caramango’s client Terryon Pugh was also named as a victim in the texting scandal. Her concern is that despite the overwhelming evidence in the form of texts written by the officers themselves, Rombough’s reduced sentence will set a new standard in California.

“The case of Eric Rombough, Amiri and Wenger, instead of being an example of the most egregious (case), they have set the standard, so that if an individual cannot demonstrate proof, as egregious as that, in those cases, they meet with judicial resistance to the implementation of the Racial Justice Act,” says Caramango.