No contest plea in pot theft case

The co-defendant charged in connection to a 2017 theft at a pot grow site in rural Vacaville has pleaded no contest to second-degree robbery and faces as much as three years when sentenced in July.

Court documents show that Matthew Michael Quinn, 36, appeared in Department 11 on May 25, when he entered his plea. He did not admit guilt but essentially stated he would offer no defense during the morning proceeding in the Justice Center in Fairfield.

Judge William J. Pendergast immediately found Quinn guilty of the robbery charge, broadly defined as theft using force.

The judge ordered Quinn, who is not in custody, and his attorney, Deputy Public Defender Pamela Boskin, to return for sentencing at 8:30 a.m. July 28, when he may face a maximum punishment of three years in state prison.

Deputy District Attorney Hunter Burnette led the prosecution.

Court records indicate that on Sept. 19, 2017, Quinn, along with co-defendant Mark Alan Graham, went onto a rural property on Gates Canyon Road, off Pleasants Valley Road, to rob the owners of their marijuana.

Quinn and Graham wore masks to conceal their identity and impersonated deputies from the Solano County Sheriff's Office. Under the guise of being law enforcement officers, the two victims, working as security officers on the property, were ordered out of their tents and restrained.

One victim suffered injuries after being shot in the leg while being restrained.

Graham was arrested nearly two years after the crime, on Aug. 22, 2019, and the DA's Office filed its complaint on Aug. 26.

Quinn, a previously convicted felon, was arrested Aug. 26, the same day the DA filed charges against him, but it is unclear where.

A jury in September found Graham, 55, of Vacaville, guilty of robbery, attempted robbery, assault with a firearm, and being a felon in possession of a firearm. He was sentenced April 7 to 27 years to life in state prison.

Detective Charles Olmstead of the Solano County Sheriff's Department investigated the case.