Former NYPD Officer Pleads Guilty To Defrauding Caribbean Immigrants

NEW YORK, New York, CMC – The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency says a former New York Police Department (NYPD) officer has pleaded guilty to defrauding Caribbean and other immigrants.

Last week Wednesday, the ICE said Miguel A. Rodriguez, 53, committed the fraud by “conning immigrants seeking driver’s licenses and immigration assistance out of thousands of dollars.”

Rodriguez pleaded guilty to the charge in Dutchess County Court in upstate New York.

The guilty plea follows an investigation by ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Wappingers Falls Police Department and the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles.

According to the ICE, Rodriguez carried out the scheme while serving as a police officer and a liaison to the Latino community in the Village of Wappingers Falls in upstate New York.

Under the terms of his plea agreement, Rodriguez is expected to be sentenced to one year imprisonment and to be subject to an order of restitution in the amount of US$13,862.

Special agent in charge of HSI New York, James T. Hayes Jr., said Rodriguez was “entrusted to serve the community but instead he robbed thousands of dollars from the very people he was sworn to protect.

“He preyed upon the necessity and hope of individuals seeking immigration assistance and legitimate government documents,” he said.

Rodriguez told the court that between October 2010 and August 2012, he charged Caribbean and other immigrants US$300 each to enter a state lottery which he claimed could garner them valid New York State driver’s licenses.

He admitted to charging victims US$500 to US$1,000 for “asylum and withholding of removal” applications, falsely promising that the applications would be reviewed by an attorney and filed with the appropriate immigration authorities – “without even determining whether the victims could be eligible for the immigration benefits at all.”

As part of his fraudulent scheme, the ICE said Rodriguez visited religious congregations and preyed upon unsuspecting churchgoers, portraying himself as a compassionate individual with official connections to help them get driver’s licenses and other services.