CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CA — A former Contra Costa County sheriff’s deputy pleaded no contest to illegal gun possession, filing a false police report and preparing false documents.
In a plea agreement negotiated with the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office, 42-year-old Matthew Buckley will be sentenced to three years and eight months in California state prison, it was announced Wednesday.
Buckley was charged in February 2023 with six felonies and a misdemeanor in connection with offenses that took place in 2020 and 2022 while he was employed as a Contra Costa sheriff’s deputy. At the time of his arrest in August 2022, he was a 15-year veteran of the department.
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In September 2020 when Buckley was assigned to the Contra Costa County Anti-Violence Support Effort — C.A.S.E. — he was part of a task force that served a search warrant in Antioch. During the operation, Buckley seized phones, laptops, heroin, drug paraphernalia and two AR-15s.
In a police report following the seizures, Buckley falsely claimed he booked the two illegal weapons into evidence. However, instead of booking the assault rifles, he separated the upper sections of the guns from the lower sections. He then returned the upper sections to the original owner but never returned the lower sections, prosecutors with the DA’s Office said.
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As part of the investigation, the sheriff’s office discovered that on multiple search warrant returns for unrelated cases, Buckley created false documents and signed for a judge without the judge’s consent.
As the investigation was wrapping up in August 2022, deputies searched Buckley’s residence in Pinole where they found the lower sections of the AR-15s from the Antioch operation. He was also found with a small amount of methamphetamine, the DA’s Office said.
Buckley was initially charged with grand theft, unlawful possession of an assault weapon, filing a false report, two counts of preparing false documentary evidence and a misdemeanor charge of destroying or concealing evidence.
Contra Costa Sheriff David Livingston released a statement when Buckley was arrested.
“When we were first apprised of the allegations, we immediately started an investigation,” Livingston said. “No one is above the law and employees of the Sheriff’s Office who violate the law will be held accountable. I am disappointed but this arrest is not a reflection of the many outstanding employees of the Sheriff’s Office.”
Because District Attorney Diana Becton served as a judge while Buckley served as a court bailiff, the DA’s Office communicated with the State Attorney General to determine whether the entire office should be recused from the case. Per the advice of the AG’s Office, an ethical wall needed to be constructed between Becton and the prosecuting attorneys. To that end, Becton had no input on the case and was not involved in the decision-making, according to a spokesperson for the DA’s Office.
Under the terms of the plea agreement, Buckley will become eligible to serve his prison sentence on mandatory supervised release if he completes a six-month drug rehab program.
He will remain ineligible to serve as a police officer per California law.
Further, as a convicted felon, Buckley is prohibited from having any guns or ammunition in his possession.
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