Bail documents reveal two other fatalities linked to Esparto fireworks case

Five once-powerful men — including Lt. Sam Machado, a former member of the Yolo County Sheriff’s Office — stood handcuffed behind glass in prison garb in a Woodland court Thursday, facing murder and other serious charges. Family members of the workers who died in last year’s Esparto warehouse explosion, some as young as 16, offered emotional testimony arguing that those responsible for their loved ones’ deaths should not be granted bail.

In addition to forceful statements from family members, a 10-page motion to deny bail was filed by Yolo County District Jeff Reisig prior to the hearing. The document offers new insights into the DA’s case — among them, how FBI agents were thrown off a 2022 investigation into the Esparto compound allegedly by lies from Machado, and two horrific deaths not previously connected to Esparto that prosecutors said were caused by fireworks trafficked through the compound.

The document also reveals that Devastating Pyrotechnics owner Kenneth Chee — arrested at Disney World April 9 — and co-defendant Doug Tollefsen attempted to set up shop again in Nevada and continued efforts allegedly to traffic in illegal explosives, even after the deadly explosion.

The defendants were remanded to custody Thursday, but the judge left open the possibility of bail in the future.

An FBI investigation into Esparto

According to testimony on Thursday, and the legal motion, the FBI was alerted to the Esparto compound in 2022, three years before the July 1, 2025, blast that killed seven. A trucker became suspicious when he delivered explosive fireworks to the Machado property and said he witnessed explosive materials from his truck being placed into an unmarked Mercedes Sprinter van.

Yolo County Sheriff Tom Lopez said at a news conference April 10 that he was unaware of the extent of the fireworks operation. But David Fisher, Machado’s attorney, told Yolo Superior Court Judge Daniel McGuire: “That FBI agent contacted the Yolo County Sheriff’s Office and the Yolo County sheriff put that FBI agent in touch with Mr. Machado.”

“When the FBI received a tip about illegal explosives activity,” Reisig’s brief states, “Machado lied to an FBI special agent.”

Spokesperson Jennifer Davis said the Yolo County Sheriff’s Office could not comment further on the investigation and proceedings.

The FBI declined to comment on its 2022 investigation “while this matter is in adjudication” and referred all questions to the Yolo County DA.

At his news conference, Lopez said that Machado resigned from the department on March 17 as a grand jury investigation — which had notified him he was named as a murder suspect — neared its end. His wife, Tammy Machado, also resigned and is facing criminal charges.

But as Machado faced victims on Thursday, he was still an employee of the Sheriff’s Office and drawing a salary. County Attorney Philip Pogledich said Friday that the Machados’ resignations were not effective until April 17, meaning they were paid through their arrest and Sam Machado’s first week of incarceration.

Pogledich said that both Machados are entitled to additional pay.

“Samuel Machado will receive $3,510.20 and Tammy Machado will receive $11,316.12 for their respective leave bank payments, subject to federal and state payroll withholdings,” he said in an email.

Two young victims now linked to Esparto

According to prosecutors, fireworks trafficked by two of the defendants were also responsible for additional deaths: a man, 18, decapitated by a misfired device in San Francisco; and a girl, 8, killed in Southern California.

Details about those deaths reveal a broader picture of Tollefsen and his relationship with Chee.

According to prosecutors, Tollefsen acted as a manager for Devastating Pyrotechnics and actively marketed his own brands of illegal fireworks.

Prosecutors said Tollefsen visited the Esparto compound on the day of the deadly blast, where he saw the workers who would perish within hours. They were working “without any safety equipment or precautions, surrounded by mass quantities of unsecured explosive material sufficient to cause the blasts which killed everyone who remained in the warehouse after Tollefsen drove away,” the bail document states.

The next day, according to the document, he returned.

“Tollefsen donned head-to-toe camouflage clothing, covered his face with a camouflage mask, hat, and sunglasses, and approached the still-smoldering Machado property,” the document states. “Text messages show Tollefsen’s goal was to conceal his identity and replace any remaining locks on the property before anyone else could do so.”

The explosion killed seven: Jesús Ramos, 18; Jhony Ramos, 22; Joel “Junior” Melendez, 28; Carlos Rodriguez-Mora, 43; Angel Mathew Voller, 18; Christopher Bocog, 45; and Neil Li, 41.

The grand jury indicted eight and five have been charged with murder. They are Chee, Gary Chan, Jack Lee (Chee’s operations manager), and Machado and Tollefsen.

The prosecutors directly name Tollefsen in connection with the 8-year-old girl who died a few days later from one of his explosives. Jasmine Nguyen was struck by a rocket projectile that misfired during a block party, flying across the street to her front year and lethally striking her.

The document states: “Days later, on July 4, 2025, one of Tollefsen’s products — a ‘For the Streets’ branded device with the label ‘Knuckles Punch’ — killed an eight-year-old girl in Buena Park, California.”

Charley Weeth, a fireworks safety expert who has consulted on illegal explosives cases in California, said he is familiar with the “For the Streets” brand that prosecutors say Tollefsen trafficked from Esparto. He said it is illegally overloaded with explosive material. The 205-shot “Knuckles Punch” is particularly dangerous, Weeth said.

“This tragedy in Buena Park involving a bootlegged overload and an 8-year-old girl is another senseless death.” Weeth said. “Because of the work of this investigation, we now know ‘For the Streets’ is linked to Esparto.”

Prosecutors also linked another fatality, before the Esparto explosion, to the operation: Marciano-Antone-Gordon, 18, was killed on Treasure Island during a 2024 New Year’s celebration by a misfired firework prosecutors said originated with Chee’s Devastating Pyrotechnics.

According to the DA’s bail motion, “Gordon lit Chee’s “Northern Beast”-branded explosive. The resulting blast decapitated him. Thereafter Defendants continued to import and sell Northern Beast.”

Weeth said he is also familiar with Northern Beast, which he described as a 25-shot finale box sold under the Bean Day Ho brand.

Products like Northern Beast and Bean Day Ho, Weeth said, are part of a dangerous marketing trend aimed at buyers seeking a bigger bang. The practice involves packaging professional or homemade fireworks as consumer-grade products. “Labeling them as consumer fireworks and selling them as such is both extremely dangerous and a federal felony,” he said.

In its indictment of Chee on murder charges, the grand jury stated that he played an instrumental role in trafficking Bean Day Ho products.

“Kenneth Kin Chee caused to be imported explosives branded as ‘Bean Day Ho’ fireworks, and stored, possessed, and sold or arranged for sale such devices on the Machado property,” the indictment states.

The new filing states that even as Chee and Tollefsen faced scrutiny, intercepted communications show they sought to rebuild in Nevada and continued to attempt to traffic in illegal fireworks. Prosecutors said the conspiracy extends well beyond those already charged.

“Chee’s criminal network is large,” the document states, “and many individuals engaged in illegal explosives trafficking have not been charged with crimes.”

A plea for justice and no bail

Families of the victims said the pain of their loss endures and argued in court that those charged with murder should not be freed on bail.

During victim testimony, Matt Voller, father of Angel, fixed his gaze on Machado — who stood in a corner of the defendant area near an on-duty sheriff’s deputy.

“He’s still hiding behind the wall,” he said. “He, cowardly, won’t look at us.”

Voller then spoke of Angel — a lanky star baseball pitcher who, months before the explosion, had finished a perfect 10-0 season for his Stockton charter school.

“I love my son and miss him very much.,” he said. “He was loved by so many. It doesn’t go away. It won’t go away. They will never feel what we’re feeling.”

Outside the courtroom, clutching a license-plate-sized placard bearing photos of his two sons — Jesús and Jhony — Jhony Ramos Sr. said his boys are always with him.

“When I’m in my bed, I always hear them ask me for help,” he said, choking back tears.

Ramos said he knows his sons would be heartened that Machado is facing justice, but is skeptical that a high-ranking law enforcement officer could have profited so much from the fireworks operation without others in the Sheriff’s Office knowing.

“More people knew about this than just this guy Machado,” he said. “Why don’t they make a real investigation and clean up the Sheriff’s Department?”