A former Raleigh Police Department officer faces up to 10 years in prison and will never serve as an officer again after pleading guilty to several drug trafficking and firearm charges.
Former officer Keven Rodriguez was arrested by federal agents in February 2022 for allegedly selling cocaine while on the job as a field operations division officer.
Rodriguez, 34, pled guilty in federal court Monday to the charges: conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine, distribution of a quantity of cocaine, use of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense and possession of contraband while in prison.
A search of his jail cell recovered smoking paraphernalia, according to a news release by the Department of Justice.
He will be sentenced later this year.
The investigation began in November 2021 after members of RPD and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration received tips from two confidential sources that Rodriguez was selling drugs in Raleigh, The News & Observer reported previously.
An operation was set up in January 2022 where Rodriguez met with a confidential informant while he was on duty, in uniform and carrying his department weapon, The N&O reported. He sold the informant cocaine for $2,600 in cash at an abandoned car dealership on Capital Boulevard while he was parked in his patrol car.
“Keven Rodriguez violated his sworn oath to protect and serve,” said U.S. Attorney Michael Easley in a statement. “He will never again wear the badge and never again tarnish the honorable profession of policing to which countless brave men and women have committed their lives.”
Rodriguez will permanently surrender his law enforcement certification and will be permanently barred from any law enforcement certification in North Carolina from either the Criminal Justice Commission or the Sheriffs’ Commission, as a condition of his guilty plea, the Department of Justice said.
“Mr. Rodriguez’s actions betrayed public trust, dishonored the oath he swore to uphold, and discredited his character,” said Raleigh Police Chief Estella Patterson in a statement. “I am pleased to see that justice was served and appropriately administered in this case.”
Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman dismissed some criminal cases involving Rodriguez. At least six people arrested in cases that involved officer Keven Rodriguez have had their pending cases dismissed last year, The N&O reported.