INDIO, CA — An ex-Riverside County sheriff's deputy who searched a secure computer network without permission, or a legitimate reason, pleaded guilty Friday to misdemeanor charges and was immediately sentenced to a year of probation.
Matthew Enrique Estrada, 53, of Blythe on Friday admitted two counts of unlawfully accessing privileged information via government computers. The plea was made directly to Riverside County Superior Court Judge John Ryan — over the objections of prosecutors.
During a hearing at the Larson Justice Center in Indio, on the court's own motion, the charges, which the District Attorney's Office originally filed as felonies, were reduced to misdemeanors.
Along with 12 months' probation, the judge ordered that Estrada relinquish his Peace Officer Standards & Training — POST — certification, making him ineligible to work as a law enforcement officer anywhere in California.
According to sheriff's Sgt. Michael Perez, detectives learned on June 24, 2025, that on several occasions, Estrada "accessed confidential" data without prior authorization or justification.
There were no details on what he sought to obtain during the activity.
Sufficient evidence was garnered by the sheriff's Special Investigations Bureau in the ensuing months to submit a request for charges from the District Attorney's Office, and the agency filed a criminal complaint on May 29, 2026.
Estrada was employed as a deputy sheriff from June 2007 to the fall of 2026. He had been most recently assigned to the Colorado River Station in Blythe.
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