Jersey City Police Officer Pleads Guilty to Transportation of Stolen Goods and Extortion

TRENTON, NJ—A Jersey City, New Jersey police officer today admitted stealing more than half a million cigarettes from a trailer and extorting $20,000 from a drug courier who turned out to be an undercover FBI agent, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

Mario Rodriguez, 39, of Jersey City, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Anne E. Thompson in Trenton federal court to an information charging him with transportation of stolen goods and extortion under color of official right.

According to documents filed in the case and statements made in court:

On July 3, 2013, Rodriguez and an individual working for the FBI as a confidential informant (CI) drove to a warehouse in Secaucus, New Jersey to break into a trailer, steal cigarettes, and sell the stolen goods to the CI’s associate. Law enforcement agents had previously parked the trailer at the warehouse and established surveillance of the area.

After using bolt-cutters to cut the lock off of the trailer, Rodriguez and the CI loaded 50 cases containing approximately 600,000 cigarettes and six televisions from the trailer into their vehicle. As they drove the stolen items to a parking lot in Staten Island, New York, Rodriguez made several phone calls seeking buyers for the TVs.

The pair met the CI’s associate—actually an undercover officer—in the parking lot to get the $5,000 payment for the cigarettes. Rodriguez kept $3,000 of the cash and three of the TVs.

On July 10, 2013, Rodriguez, the CI and an undercover law enforcement agent met in New Jersey and discussed the possibility of robbing a drug courier, who was actually another undercover officer. On July 24, 2013, the group met again in Staten Island to discuss the plan. The undercover officer told Rodriguez the courier would be delivering cocaine to them that day in exchange for a $20,000 payment. Rodriguez suggested a Jersey City mall parking lot due to an absence of surveillance cameras and called his associate, Anthony Roman, 48, of Jersey City, who was not a law enforcement officer, to help him with the robbery. Roman was charged with one count of Hobbs Act extortion.

Later that day, Rodriguez and Roman drove an SUV to the location where the CI and the drug courier were parked. Law enforcement agents had already established surveillance and staged the car containing $20,000 cash in a plastic bag. Rodriguez and Roman approached the car and identified themselves as law enforcement officers who were investigating the CI. They pretended to arrest the CI, threatened to arrest the drug courier and took the cash.

Later that day, Rodriguez, the CI and the undercover agent met in a hotel room at a Pennsylvania casino to split the cash.

The cargo theft and conspiracy to commit extortion charges to which Rodriguez pleaded guilty carry a maximum potential penalty of 10 and 20 years in prison, respectively. Both counts also carry a maximum fine of $250,000. Sentencing is scheduled for September 26, 2014. Rodriguez has been suspended from the police department.

U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Aaron T. Ford in Newark; the Special Investigations Unit of the Jersey City Police Department, under the direction of Acting Chief Joseph Connors; the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Acting Prosecutor Gaetano T. Gregory; and criminal investigators of the U.S. Attorney’s Office with the investigation leading to today’s plea. He also thanked the Bayonne Police Department, Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor, IRS-Criminal Investigation, U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General, and the N.J. State Commission of Investigation for their significant contributions to the investigation.

The government is represented by Acting Deputy Chief of the General Crimes Unit Jonathan W. Romankow in Newark.

The charges against Roman remain pending. They are merely accusations, and he remains innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Mobile Man Sentenced to Nearly Four Years in Prison for Conning $260,000 from Three Women

BIRMINGHAM—A federal judge today sentenced a Mobile man to nearly four years in prison in connection with a con scheme totaling more than $260,000 that he ran on at least three women he met in an upscale Birmingham steakhouse, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance and FBI Special Agent in Charge Richard D. Schwein, Jr.
Julian Pearson Burke, 56, pleaded guilty in October to two counts of wire fraud and one count of interstate transportation of stolen goods. U.S. District Judge L. Scott Coogler sentenced Burke to 45 months in prison on the charges and ordered him to pay the victims $264,300 in restitution. Burke had agreed to the restitution as part of his plea agreement with the government. Judge Coogler ordered Burke into custody immediately following today’s hearing.
Between October 2010 and October 2011, Burke struck up friendships with at least three women he met at a restaurant in the Summit Shopping Center on U.S. 280. He convinced all three to give him tens of thousands of dollars for him to invest, according to court documents. Instead of investing the money, Burke spent it at pawnshops and casinos. He never returned any money to the three women.
Burke pleaded guilty to transporting stolen goods across state lines for receiving a $100,000 investment check from a woman, identified by the initials C.W., and converting it to personal use by endorsing and negotiating the check at the Imperial Palace of Mississippi casino in Biloxi. The woman believed she was investing in the Admiral Semmes Hotel in Mobile.
According to Burke’s plea agreement and other court documents, he carried out his wire fraud scheme as follows:
Burke owned two businesses, Burke Construction and Computer Converters, and maintained business accounts for both at the Mississippi-based Hancock Bank.
In October 2010, Burke met a woman, identified by the initials D.G., at the Birmingham restaurant and built a friendship. In February 2011, he asked D.G. to invest with him by loaning money to pawnshops. On February 7, 2011, she wired $18,000 from her bank account to the Computer Converters account, which held $313 before her deposit. The next day, Burke transferred $18,200 from the Computer Converters account to the Burke Construction account. The same day, he wrote two $9,150 checks to Quik Pawn in Mobile to buy back a 17-carat platinum watch and a men’s diamond pinky ring he previously had pawned there for $7,500 each.
In April 2011, Burke convinced D.G. to invest $86,000 more with him, claiming he was publishing academic coloring books for children and would roll her previous investment, plus interest, into the project. She thought she would get back the $110,000, plus interest, within six months. In July 2011, D.G. wired another $20,300 to the Burke Construction account for the coloring book project. Burke never returned any of D.G.’s money. He also cashed a $59,921 check at Grand Casino of Mississippi on the same day the $86,000 was deposited into the previously overdrawn construction company account.
The third victim in the case is identified in court documents by the initials, S.H. Burke met her at the Birmingham restaurant in February 2011. He convinced S.H. to invest with him in buying a pawnshop, with the understanding that she would earn 15 percent interest within 60 days. On October 24, 2011, S.H. wired $40,000 to the Burke Construction bank account, which was overdrawn until the deposit arrived. That same day, Burke withdrew $35,000 cash and transferred $2,000 to the Computer Converters account.
The FBI investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Robin Beardsley Mark prosecuted.