Who remains behind bars in the Esparto fireworks case? Tracking all 8 defendants

The former Yolo County sheriff’s lieutenant accused of helping oversee an illegal fireworks operation that exploded in Esparto and killed seven workers is now free on $1.5 million bail, making him one of only a handful of defendants no longer behind bars as the sweeping criminal case moves toward trial.

Sam Machado was released Thursday after a judge rejected prosecutors’ request that he wear a GPS monitor while out of custody. He remains charged with seven counts of murder and dozens of weapons and explosives-related offenses tied to the July 1, 2025, explosion that destroyed a fireworks compound outside Esparto.

Machado’s release further reshapes the custody status of the eight people indicted in the case. While Machado, his wife Tammy Machado and BlackStar Fireworks founder Craig Allen Cutright are out on bail or bond, five other defendants remain jailed in Yolo County or elsewhere awaiting future court proceedings.

The defendants include executives, permit holders and associates connected to Devastating Pyrotechnics and BlackStar Fireworks, the companies prosecutors allege operated illegally at the Esparto site where the blast occurred. Most face murder charges, while others are accused of conspiracy, explosives violations, fraud and weapons offenses.

Further arraignment for all eight suspects is scheduled in Yolo Superior Court on July 1, the one-year anniversary of the blast.

Here’s what to know:

Sam Machado, who owned the Esparto property, was released Thursday afternoon after posting $1.5 million bail, according to jail records. He faces seven counts of murder and dozens of other charges including possession of unlicensed assault weapons.

Tammy Machado, Sam’s wife and a former Yolo County legal secretary, has been free on bond since shortly after her April arrest and pleaded not guilty in Woodland to mortgage fraud and other charges related to the fireworks operation. She is not charged with murder.

Craig Allen Cutright, the former Esparto volunteer firefighter and BlackStar Fireworks founder, was released in late April after a Yolo Superior Court judge approved a $500,000 bail bond with conditions including 60 days of GPS monitoring, passport surrender and a prohibition on associating with co-defendants.

Kenneth Chee, the founder and CEO of Devastating Pyrotechnics, remains in custody of the Monroe Detention Center in Woodland after being arrested at a Disney resort near Lake Buena Vista, Florida, while vacationing with family. He faces seven counts of murder despite having been ineligible for a federal explosives permit due to a 1998 violent felony conviction.

Jack Ying Lee, the operations manager for Devastating Pyrotechnics and listed owner of the San Francisco home used as the company’s business address, is being held without bail in Yolo County jail on 16 felony counts including seven murder charges.

Gary Y. Chan Jr., who applied for and received the federal explosives permit that Chee was ineligible to hold, was arrested in Santa Clara and remains in Yolo County custody. He is ineligible for bail on charges including murder, conspiracy and possession of explosive devices in a public building.

Douglas Michael Tollefsen, 55, of Rio Linda, described by prosecutors as an associate of Chee who helped import large quantities of explosives from overseas, remains in Yolo County custody after his April arrest. He faces murder charges and is expected to be formally arraigned alongside other defendants.

Ronald Botelho III, 30, remains in Del Norte County jail where he has been held since his December 2025 arrest in Crescent City. Botelho, who sold fireworks for Cutright, had additional charges added in April including felony reckless possession of explosives, conspiracy and making destructive devices without permits.

A Yolo judge is still weighing two pivotal procedural questions.

The first is whether to impose the gag order requested by the District Attorney’s Office in mid-May, which prosecutors argue is needed to safeguard the jury pool in a small county against “extremely high” community and media interest. One defense attorney, David Fischer, told the court the motion was filed “with zero evidence” and accused prosecutors of seeding pretrial publicity at their own April news conference.

Maguire said he would rule in writing within “a week or two.”

The second concerns the reach of the California Supreme Court’s recent People v. Richard Curtis Morris Jr. decision, which held that murder defendants must be directly involved in the act of killing. Defense attorneys Douglas Horngrad and Rob Gorman have argued the ruling bars Yolo prosecutors from pursuing murder charges against their clients; legal experts who spoke with The Sacramento Bee said Morris applies only to first-degree murder cases — and the five murder defendants here face second-degree counts.

The grand jury indictment allows the case to bypass a preliminary hearing and proceed toward trial.

No trial date has been set.

This story was originally published June 5, 2026 at 12:09 PM.