Victims’ families fill courtroom as hearing in Esparto explosion case delayed
A handful of defendants — including a former Yolo County Sheriff’s lieutenant and his wife — indicted in last July’s deadly Esparto fireworks explosion appeared Monday in Yolo Superior Court on charges of murder and a string of other counts tied to the disaster will return Thursday for further arraignment.
Seven workers were killed July 1 in the powerful blast that leveled Devastating Pyrotechnics’ fireworks warehouse: 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.
Dozens of the workers’ family members filled the rows of the first-floor courtroom in Woodland. Some wore T-shirts honoring their loved ones, waiting for a glimpse of the men charged with taking their lives last summer.
• Former sheriff’s Lt. Samuel Machado, who with Tammy Machado, owned the Esparto compound where Devastating Pyrotechnics and BlackStar Fireworks were leveled in the explosion. He faces 26 charges including seven counts of murder — one for each of the blast victims — in the explosion.
Machado wore a white T-shirt and leaned against a side wall inside the courtroom’s holding cell, away from the view of victims’ families. His attorney, David Fisher, won a delay of his arraignment until Thursday morning.
• Craig Allen Cutright, the show producer and volunteer Esparto Fire Protection District firefighter who formed BlackStar Fireworks, also saw his arraignment on 10 counts connected to the blast postponed until Thursday. He faces allegations related to possessing, transporting and conspiring to transport explosive materials.
• Jack Y. Lee, Devastating Pyrotechnics’ operations manager, faces 16 counts, including the murder allegations. His arraignment was also postponed after his defense counsel during the months-long criminal probe into his connection to the deadly blast, said she was no longer representing him. Yolo County’s conflict attorney’s panel will review Lee’s financial history to determine whether it will represent him.
• Douglas Tollefsen, an associate of Devastating Pyrotechnics founder Kenneth Chee, allegedly helped import millions of pounds of explosives into the country from overseas before they were moved to Esparto to be repackaged and sold as consumer fireworks. The Rio Linda man appeared with attorney Darryl Stallworth and will return for the Thursday morning hearing. He faces 17 counts in all, including murder allegations connected to the blast.
Lee, Machado and Tollefsen remain held without bail in Yolo County custody. Cutright is being held in lieu of $500,000 bail at Yolo County jail.
• Gary Chan, who is alleged to have received a license in 2014 for a business that used the trade name Devastating Pyro Displays, faces counts related to possessing, transporting or conspiring to transport destructive or explosive devices, is expected to be arraigned Tuesday on seven counts of murder, along with various explosives counts, in Yolo Superior Court. He is expected to appear again Thursday.
• Tammy Machado, the former sheriff’s legal secretary, appeared on allegations brought in a second indictment including mortgage fraud and animal cruelty. She pleaded not guilty to all charges, and is expected to appear Thursday for further proceedings. Machado, who bailed out of sheriff’s custody, remains free on her own recognizance.
The couple, who had been on leave from the Sheriff’s Office since the blast, left the agency in March, sheriff’s officials said Friday.
The blast victims’ families in December filed a $35 million claim against Yolo County, state fireworks regulators and public officials, alleging widespread negligence in the disaster.
The indictments do not change the families’ position that several other public officials and agencies are liable, Ramin Younessi, an attorney representing the family of the Ramos brothers, said after the hearing.
“These people have been operating in plain sight without the proper permits. Everyone must have known about it,” he said. “Frankly, it’s just unforgivable.”
The victims’ families said they intend to share an impact statement during Thursday’s hearing. California law gives victims the right to be heard when matters concerning bail are addressed.
The hearings in Woodland this week formalize the web of charges defendants face in the blast that killed seven workers and led to a nine-month criminal grand jury probe, described by Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig as the most complex in that county’s history.
This story was originally published April 13, 2026 at 4:45 PM.
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