OAKLAND — A former Antioch police officer was convicted Thursday of wire fraud and conspiracy as part of a scheme to obtain education incentive pay raises by paying a woman to earn a bachelor’s degree in his name.
Morteza Amiri spent all of this week in trial watching police, forensic accountants and a former friend testify against him, culminating with his conviction on both charges after brief deliberations by the jury. He faces 20 years in prison, but federal guidelines will likely place his recommended sentence far lower than that.
Amiri’s legal problems are far from over. He faces pending federal civil rights violations charges for allegedly conspiring with other Antioch cops to assault people with dog bites and use of a gun that shoots less-lethal projectiles. On top of that, he’s among a number of current and former officers facing a federal class action lawsuit, and he was caught up in a text message 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 final of six co-defendants — all former Antioch or Pittsburg law enforcement employees — to be convicted. The other five accepted guilty pleas rather than bring their case to a jury. Only one, a former Antioch community service officer, has been sentenced.
According to witness testimony, the scheme to defraud the cities was hatched roughly 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. Before long, 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 for employees who obtained bachelor’s degrees.
The woman came forward to the FBI after Berhan confessed infidelity to her. Her admissions led to raids by the FBI and Contra Costa District Attorney in early 2022, where officers’ phones were seized. That led to discoveries of more crimes, including the alleged civil rights violations, steroid sales and low-level bribery, authorities said. It’s also how police learned of the offensive text messages.
Berhan’s ex testified at Amiri’s trial that she began taking classes for officers because Berhan was pressuring her to “pull my weight” financially. The cops paid her a fee per class, usually around $200 to $300, she said.
“If I didn’t pull my weight in the relationship we wouldn’t have had a future,” she said, adding that she hoped the extra money would allow them to buy a house and start a family after they got married. She later added, “Patrick had asked me to 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 where they discussed classes, payment and test-taking. She testified they exchanged thousands of text messages during the relevant time period, and enjoyed a friendly banter, like texting Amiri, “you’re officially smart” when she’d completed his coursework. When prosecutors asked how close the two got, she began to cry.
“Yeah, we would often joke around. We were very sarcastic back and forth,” she said, struggling to collect herself. U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White called a brief stretching break, 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 the truth,” she replied. “That’s the only reason I’m here.”
Originally Published: