Ex-Antioch cop convicted of college fraud that led to massive corruption probe in East Contra Costa

OAKLAND – A former Antioch police officer was convicted Thursday of fraud and conspiracy as part of a scheme to get educational incentive pay raises by paying a woman to obtain a bachelor’s degree in his name.

Morteza Amiri spent all of this week in court, watching police officers, forensic accountants and a former friend testify against him, culminating in his conviction on both charges after brief jury deliberations. He faces 20 years in prison, but federal guidelines will likely place his recommended sentence much lower than that.

Amiri’s legal troubles are far from over. He faces pending charges of civil rights violations for conspiring with other Antioch police officers to attack people with dog bites and use of a gun that fires less-lethal projectiles. In addition, he is among a number of current and former officials facing a federal class-action lawsuit, and he was embroiled in a texting scandal for using racial slurs and other offensive language in messages to colleagues.

The four-day trial was a fairly routine recitation of the facts behind both charges. Amiri was the last of six co-defendants, all former Antioch or Pittsburg police officers, to be sentenced. The other five pleaded guilty rather than take their case to a jury. Only one, a former community service officer in Antioch, has been convicted.

According to witnesses, the scheme to defraud the cities was hatched about five years ago by former Pittsburg police officer Patrick Berhan, who enlisted his then-girlfriend to take classes at California Coast University in his name. Soon, the woman was taking classes for Berhan’s colleagues and his roommate, Amiri, all with the same goal in mind: Both cities offered pay raises of up to 5 percent to employees who earned bachelor’s degrees.

The woman came forward to the FBI after Berhan admitted to infidelity with her. Her confessions led to raids by the FBI and the Contra Costa District Attorney in early 2022 in which police phones were seized. That led to the discovery of more crimes, including the alleged civil rights violations, the sale of steroids and low-level bribery, authorities said. It’s also how the police found out about the offending text messages.

Berhan’s ex testified at Amiri’s trial that she began taking officer classes because Berhan pressured her to “pull on me” financially. The police paid her a fee per class, usually between $200 and $300, she said.

“If I hadn’t pushed myself into the relationship, we wouldn’t have had a future,” she said, adding that she hoped the extra money would enable them to buy a house and start a family after they married. She later added, “Patrick had asked me to do it, and they were good friends, and I wanted them to succeed just like Patrick was.”

Federal prosecutors offered her immunity in exchange for her testimony.

During her two days on the stand, prosecutors showed her text messages between her and Amiri in which they discussed lessons, payment and testing. She testified that they exchanged thousands of text messages during the relevant time period and enjoyed friendly banter, such as texting Amiri “you’re officially smart” when she had completed his courses. When the prosecutor asked how close the two were, she began to cry.

“Yeah, we joked a lot. We were very sarcastic back and forth,” she said, struggling to compose herself. U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White called a brief recess, then her testimony resumed.

During cross-examination, Amiri’s lawyer asked her if she was there to appease the federal government.

“I’m here to tell you the truth,” she replied. “That’s the only reason I’m here.”

Originally published: August 9, 2024 at 09.06