Deputy Accused of Illegally Accessing Secure Computers Arraigned

BLYTHE (CNS) - A Riverside County sheriff's deputy accused ofsearching a secure computer network without permission or a legitimate reasonpleaded not guilty to felony charges, court records showed Tuesday. Matthew Enrique Estrada, 53, of Blythe was arrested in May following anearly yearlong probe by the Riverside County Sheriff's Department'sSpecial Investigations Bureau. Estrada is charged with two counts of unlawfully accessing privilegedinformation via government computers. He was arraigned Tuesday before Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Tucker,who scheduled a felony settlement conference for Sept. 3 at the BlytheCourthouse. The defendant, who did not spend any time in custody and is on paidadministrative leave, remains free on a $25,000 bond. According to sheriff's Sgt. Michael Perez, detectives learned on June24, 2025, of one or more instances in which Estrada allegedly accessedconfidential data without prior authorization or justification. There were no details on what he sought to obtain during the allegedactivity. Sufficient evidence was garnered over the ensuing months to submit arequest for felony charges from the District Attorney's Office, and prosecutorsfiled the criminal complaint on May 29. Estrada has been employed as a deputy sheriff since June 2007. He wasmost recently assigned to the Colorado River Station. Copyright 2026, City News Service, Inc. For more Coachella Valley News visit NBCPalmSprings.com