Esparto Fireworks Blast: Seven Murder Charges, Bail Denied for Ex-Sheriff's Lt. Machado

Five of eight men charged over a deadly July 2025 fireworks explosion in Esparto, California, appeared in court Thursday. Bail was denied for former sheriff's lieutenant Sam Machado.

Families of Esparto blast victims urge court to keep all defendants behind bars

Five of the eight men indicted over last summer's deadly fireworks explosion in Esparto, California, returned to Yolo Superior Court on Thursday, as attorneys argued for more than an hour over the defendants' custody status, davisenterprise.com reports.

Before bail arguments began, Judge Daniel Maguire heard victim-impact statements from survivors of the seven people killed in the 1 July 2025 blast. Yolo County prosecutors have described the explosion site as a highly dangerous, black-market fireworks operation more than a decade in the making.

Eight defendants, two still to be transferred

A nine-month criminal investigation resulted in indictments on 3 April against eight men. Kenneth Chee, 48, and Craig Cutright, 61, operated their respective companies — Devastating Pyrotechnics and BlackStar Fireworks — on the Esparto property. Property owners Samuel Machado, 45, and his wife Tammy Machado, 46, are both former Yolo County sheriff's employees. Chee's associates Gary Chan Jr., 43; Jack Lee, 65; and Douglas Tollefsen, 55; and Cutright's associate Ronald Botelho III, 30, round out the group.

Chee and Botelho have not yet appeared before the court — Chee awaiting transfer from Florida, Botelho from Del Norte County.

Chan, Lee, Tollefsen and Sam Machado each face seven counts of implied-malice murder, accused of acting with conscious disregard for human life, and are being held without bail. Cutright, who was not charged with the deaths, has bail set at $500,000.

"Blood on their hands"

The prospect of any defendant's release drew more than a dozen relatives of the victims to the courtroom. Several were the partners and wives of the men who died, now raising young children alone.

"They have blood on their hands," said Jhanelly Ramos, whose brothers Jesus, 18, and Jhony, 22, both died in the blast. "This is forever. This isn't something that's going to be let go."

Matt Voller, whose son Angel was killed shortly after his high school graduation and 18th birthday, addressed Sam Machado directly.

"Like a coward, you will not look at us," Voller told Machado, who had been standing against the holding-cell wall with his back to the courtroom before turning to face the grieving father. "So I cannot trust that you will not make a cowardly decision to flee if you are granted bail. Nobody involved should be out on bail."

Prosecution: flight risk increased after indictment

Only Sam Machado entered a plea on Thursday — not guilty to multiple counts of murder, conspiracy, and explosives and weapons-related offences. The bail debate centred primarily on Machado and Cutright.

Deputy District Attorney Deanna Hays argued that the defendants' indictment had materially changed the risk picture. Until their arrests last week, "most of the defendants lived in this narrative that this was an accident and they had escaped accountability," Hays said. "Now that the grand jury has returned an indictment, the flight risk is much greater."

Hays described Machado as "an aider and abetter of implied-malice murder" who allegedly collected tens of thousands of dollars in cash for rent each month while using his position as a sheriff's lieutenant to allow the illegal fireworks operation to expand undetected. When a delivery driver reported suspicious activity at the property to the FBI in 2022, Machado "made sure to let the FBI agent know there was nothing to see here," Hays said. "The FBI had no reason to question a lieutenant with the Sheriff's Department."

Defence: a landlord, not a conspirator

Sam Machado's defence attorney, David Fischer, rejected that characterisation, arguing his client was simply a landlord whose property was the site of "a terrible accident." Fischer noted that Machado lost his family home and other assets in the explosion.

"There's no evidence that Mr. Machado was doing anything illegal," Fischer said. "If he thought there was any danger whatsoever, he would have shut it down."

Maguire was unmoved. "Yet the grand jury returned an indictment, so there must be some evidence," the judge remarked, before denying bail for Machado without prejudice — leaving the defence free to raise the issue again at a later stage.

Cutright's bail maintained; causal question raised

Maguire also maintained the $500,000 bail for Cutright. His attorney, Darryl Stallworth, had sought a reduction to $100,000, arguing that Cutright is not charged with any deaths and serves as the sole caretaker for his elderly father, making him unlikely to flee.

When Maguire asked why Cutright had not been indicted for the fatalities, Hays explained that the explosion appeared to have been triggered by the insertion of sensitive electrical igniters into display firework shells on Chee's side of the operation, with no worker safety measures in place. Cutright has a further bail hearing scheduled for Monday.

Chan, Lee and Tollefsen return to court Wednesday afternoon for arraignment. Chan's attorney, Christopher Cannon, also intends to address his client's bail at that stage. Machado will attend a trial-setting conference the same day.

Tammy Machado and legal representation issues

Tammy Machado, who faces a separate indictment on charges of mortgage fraud, tax fraud, child endangerment and animal cruelty, previously pleaded not guilty and remains out of custody. She is due back in court on 4 June.

Lee's legal representation remains unresolved. His case was referred to the county's panel of conflict attorneys for indigent clients, but conflict attorney Ava Landers told Maguire the panel is not currently in a position to accept it.

"It's just not equipped to handle a case of this magnitude at this time," Landers said, citing the case's complexity, the number of defendants and the volume of discovery material. The panel is expected to meet with county officials to discuss additional resources, but Landers said no appointment could be accepted on Thursday.

Source: Google News MT — Crime (en)