A Yolo County judge split his bail ruling Thursday for two men charged in the 2025 Esparto fireworks explosion, setting $400,000 bail for Gary Chan Jr. while denying bail for Jack Lee. Both face more than a dozen charges each, including seven counts of murder for the seven people killed in the July 1, 2025 blast that leveled part of an Esparto neighborhood.
Judge Daniel Maguire pointed to limited evidence tying Chan directly to the explosion and no sign he tried to restart the business. Prosecutors disagreed sharply, calling Chan the bedrock of the illegal operation because he held the federal explosives licenses that gave the whole enterprise its cover. For Lee, the court focused on what investigators found at his home: roughly 1,000 pounds of illegal fireworks and explosive materials about 500 feet from a school.
Chan’s bail is not final. A September 17 hearing will examine whether the money used to post it is legitimate. The rulings add to a pattern of widely different bail outcomes across the eight defendants, with owner Kenneth Chee and others denied bail while some defendants have been released. With seven murder counts still moving through the courts, each decision carries weight for a community that has already been through the worst of it.
What do you think, should bail decisions in a single case vary this much from defendant to defendant? Let us know in the comments.
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Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson is a contributor to LocalBeat, covering local news and community stories.
