A Concord man who arranged the beating of an 80-year-old, set a home on fire and shot at federal agents through his front door was sentenced Friday, Aug. 7, to 18 years in federal prison.

U.S. District Judge Jon S. Tigar imposed the sentence on Joel Dowen, 46, in Oakland federal court after Dowen pleaded guilty to charges spanning a years-long extortion and drug-manufacturing operation, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California.

Dowen admitted he threatened a victim and the victim's family to extort millions of dollars and a proprietary drug-manufacturing recipe. He hired three people to attack the victim's 80-year-old father inside the father's home, leaving the elderly man with life-threatening injuries, prosecutors said. After the assault, Dowen continued threatening the family and set the victim's home on fire.

When Drug Enforcement Administration agents arrived at Dowen's residence to arrest him in 2024, he fired a handgun through his front door as agents breached the entrance. One bullet struck a DEA agent's protective shield.

The extortion was part of a broader criminal enterprise. Dowen and co-defendant Micah-Luc Almeida, 47, of San Francisco, conspired from 2020 to 2024 to manufacture and distribute large quantities of MDA and psilocin, both Schedule I controlled substances, according to prosecutors. The pair operated a drug lab in Richmond where law enforcement later seized hundreds of kilograms of chemical waste tied to production.

Almeida was sentenced the same day to three years in federal prison for his role in the drug conspiracy. Both men were also sentenced to three years of supervised release after their prison terms.

Dowen was separately charged in 2025 with bank fraud. He pleaded guilty to all counts.

U.S. Attorney Craig H. Missakian and DEA Special Agent in Charge Bob P. Beris announced the sentencing. The case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office Organized Crime Section, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Lina Peng and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Dan Karmel handling the case.

The investigation involved six federal agencies: the DEA, IRS Criminal Investigation, ATF, FBI, Homeland Security Investigations and U.S. Postal Inspectors. The Concord Police Department assisted in the investigation.

Residents with information about drug activity or violent crime in the area can contact the Concord Police Department or the DEA.