Update 10:06 p.m. Thursday, June 4
Former Yolo County Sheriff's Lieutenant Samuel Machado has been released on bail.
Jail records show Machado was no longer in the custody of the Sutter County Sheriff's Office as of Thursday evening at 6 p.m.
Machado was booked into the Sutter County Jail on April 9 in connection to the deadly July 2025 Esparto fireworks explosion.
Update 3:48 p.m. Wednesday, June 3
A Yolo County judge has cleared the way for a former Yolo County sheriff’s lieutenant charged in connection to last year's deadly Esparto fireworks explosion to be released on bail.
Judge Daniel Maguire on Wednesday set certain conditions for Samuel Machado’s release. He cannot possess firearms, explosives or fireworks, must stay away from any site where they are stored, and cannot contact his co-defendants or the victims’ families.
Machado is allowed contact with his wife, Tammy Machado, who faces a separate indictment in the Esparto case.
Machado’s defense attorney David Fischer noted that the bond would be $75,000, and the money used to pay the bonds would be from Tammy Machado’s deferred compensation account from Yolo County.
Deputy District Attorney Deanna Hays requested GPS monitoring be ordered for Machado, arguing he has significant support among law enforcement and that it could be difficult to secure Machado’s presence “should something go bad.”
Fischer objected to the GPS condition, arguing Machado is not a flight risk. He said the prosecution’s statements of Machado’s connections to law enforcement were “baseless disparagement of the Yolo County Sheriff’s Office.”
“Claiming that they would assist Mr. Machado in doing something illegal, is very offensive,” Fischer said.
Maguire declined Hays’ GPS request, saying Machado’s $1.5 million bail is significant enough to ensure the former sheriff’s lieutenant appears in court.
Machado’s next court date is scheduled for July 1.
Originally published 9:25 a.m. Monday, June 1
A Yolo County judge has set bail for a former Yolo County sheriff’s lieutenant charged in connection to last year’s deadly explosion at a fireworks facility in Esparto.
At a hearing Monday afternoon, Judge Daniel Maguire set bail at $1.5 million for Samuel Machado, with conditions.
Machado co-owned the property where the fireworks facility was located, and is one of five defendants charged with seven counts of second-degree murder — one for each worker killed in the blast. He pleaded not guilty in April to all charges, which also include conspiracy and various explosives and weapons offenses.
Maguire previously denied a request for Machado to receive bail during an April 16 hearing.
Prosecutors’ arguments
Deputy District Attorney Deanna Hays argued bail should not be set for Machado. If it was, she said, the amount should be $7 million.
Hays argued that a violent felony was committed during the incident. “It is a murder; it is seven counts of murder,” she said.
Hays said there was a risk of Machado posing “great bodily harm to others” if he were released. She said the former sheriff’s lieutenant was involved in a “massive conspiracy for 10 years” that resulted in the deaths of seven people.
“We’ve been very clear that this is implied malice murder,” Hays noted.
Mike Vitiello, a Distinguished Professor of Law at McGeorge School of Law, previously told Insight Host Vicki Gonzalez that murder does not necessarily mean intentional killing, but can also be “acting with such extreme indifference to human life.”
Additionally, Hays said "there was no license on Mr. Machado's property… that could cover any explosives that exploded,” saying ATF licenses had been issued for the property next door. Hays also said the property was not insured to have explosives.
She also pointed to Machado training as a law enforcement officer, including about destructive devices and explosives. “He knows what these devices are, he knows his property isn’t licensed,” Hays argued.
She said “witnesses saw Mr. Machado in his lieutenant’s outfit days prior to the explosion” while workers were “unsafely” inserting electrical matches into fireworks.
“Some life-endangering act is occurring in his presence, and he did nothing to stop it because he didn’t want to turn off the faucet of the money that was coming in,” Hays said. “He absolutely is part and parcel to these conspiracies that resulted in the murder of seven people.”
Machado’s defense pushes back
Machado’s lawyer, David Fischer, argued his client should be put on a $10,000 cash bond or $100,000 bail bond.
Fischer pushed back on Hays’ assertions that Machado was part of a conspiracy. He noted that at the initial April 16 hearing, “this court found that this is not a violent case with regard to Mr. Machado.”
Fischer argued the former lieutenant was “only the landlord” and was not present when the explosion occurred. He said Machado “did not manufacture, personally store, handle, or set off a single device.” He also said Machado did not attempt to flee after the explosion, had little to no contact with co-defendants and “has no interest in helping them restart their businesses.”
On the conspiracy accusations, Fischer said a November 2010 letter from a then-Esparto fire chief authorized the storage of both display and “safe and sane” pyrotechnic devices at the Esparto property. “That authorization, given by the fire marshal, was never revoked,” Fischer said.
Fischer also pointed to February 2021 emails in which another defendant, Craig Cutright, told Esparto Fire Protection Chief Curtis Lawrence about wanting to buy a property in Esparto “especially for the storage of 1.3G and 1.4G fireworks.”
Cutright was a member of the fire protection district and the owner of Blackstar Fireworks, which also operated out of Machado’s Esparto property. Fischer said Cutright had even invited Lawrence to visit the property “and see what’s going on.”
Fischer said Machado held various licenses from ATF, Cal Fire and other agencies, and that an insurance policy was provided for the property. “It just blows my mind when I hear arguments that Mr. Machado is somehow trying to keep this giant operation secret from everybody,” Fischer said.
Fischer said Cal Fire’s report determined the explosion was caused by “human error” when electric matches were being inserted into fireworks shells. He said “that is something that Mr. Machado had nothing to do with.”
Fischer said the workers handling the devices were inside the building, and that toxicology reports showed some of those who died had alcohol or THC in their systems. CapRadio has not independently verified the toxicology results or Cal Fire’s report, the latter of which has not been publicly released.
The judge’s ruling
Much of the court’s positioning revolved around an April 2026 ruling by the California Supreme Court in In re Kowalczyk. The decision clarifies when courts can hold a defendant without bail and how bail amounts should be set.
Maguire said the Kowalczyk ruling allows the court to hold a person without bail “under very limited circumstances.” This includes “felony offenses involving acts of violence on another person,” which Maguire said applies in Machado’s case.
But the judge said that alone was not enough. He said the court also needs “clear and convincing evidence” that there is “a substantial likelihood the person’s release would result in great bodily harm to others.”
Maguire said the DA’s office had not cleared that bar, noting that the criminal enterprise Machado is accused of being of “is obviously not viable, at least at the former location.”
Maguire said Kowalczyk means bail should be attainable but “does not need to be easily affordable.” He said his considerations include “unknowns” surrounding Machado’s finances and the “gravity of the alleged offense.”
The $1.5 million bail amount set for Machado is subject to factors including the potential value of the Esparto property, and whether Machado’s retirement pension from the sheriff’s office is available. It will also be through a surety to ensure he appears in court.
A separate hearing on the source of the bail funds is scheduled for Wednesday. Machado remains in custody.
