Former Jersey City cop sentenced to three years for stealing cigarettes, robbing drug courier

By Thomas Zambito | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
January 09, 2015 at 4:23 PM

NEWARK ? A former Jersey City police officer snared in a sting for stealing a trailer-load of cigarettes and ripping off a drug courier was sentenced to three years in prison today.

Mario Rodriguez, 40, was caught by FBI agents who were watching on July 3, 2013, when Rodriguez broke into a trailer parked at a Secaucus warehouse and stole more than 600,000 cigarettes, New Jersey federal prosecutors say.

Three weeks later, Rodriguez and an associate took $20,000 in cash that FBI agents had planted in a car parked in a Jersey City mall parking lot with the help of a confidential informant, prosecutors added.

Rodriguez, of Jersey City, pleaded guilty to his role in the cargo theft and the robbery in May. He was facing up to 30 years in prison.

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2015 ... courier.html#incart_river

It wasn't all that long ago we had a JCFD captain stealing from homes while performing his duties and a family member from the Healy clan that failed the pre-psych test but was still allowed to join the JCFD and yet another Healy clan member dumped from one PD only to join the JCPD only to kill a child and mother when he was drunk behind the wheel - Lets hope the new Safety Director does some reviews in this area too and rids us of questionable recruits and staff appointments!

greedy and stupid. i feel bad for his kids

Once again the ratio of bad cops in the JCPD is to high when you compare it with other PD's.
The Safety Director will need to review the history of 'bad' cops and how to best mitigate the problem and exposing them. The internal affairs dept isn't doing enough and it needs to do random ethical and criminal behavior reviews of all JCPD personnel.
Officers like this only dark'en the reputation and service of the JCPD - I'm sure there are others involved in illegal activity and need to be flushed out and the culture within the force of turning a blind eye should be reviewed.
I'm even talking about cops that abuse their authority with parking offences - I'd have the safety director go to each precinct and book ALL the cars illegally parked owned by cops.... zero tolerance should start from within the JCPD.

So, is it 8.5 years? Or, 11 years?? Typical JJ crap reporting, I suppose. Poorly edited and/or facts don't quite mesh properly.

Also, anyone else find the guy's salary a tad high?? ~100K / yr ain't too bad, especially when you factor in that (if he had not kissed it all away) there is a generous pension waiting after 20 years, plus the many other job perks, PLUS OT.

Felix Alarcon/The Jersey Journal

NEWARK ? A veteran Jersey City police officer robbed a warehouse of 600,000 cigarettes and an undercover officer he thought was a drug courier of $20,000, according to officials.

Mario Rodriguez, 39, of Jersey City, is charged with cargo theft and extortion, and faces a maximum of 20 years behind bars if convicted, officials said.

Rodriguez, a Jersey City cop for 8 1/2 years, wore a black polo T-shirt and blue jeans when he appeared in Newark federal court today before Judge Cathy L. Waldor.

He was released on $250,000 bail and was placed under house arrest with electrical monitoring.

Rodriguez pleaded not guilty.

?I haven?t seen the video surveillance yet and they?re subject to review,? Rodriguez?s attorney, Brian J. Neary, said outside the courtroom. ?Rodriguez was a patrolman and served Jersey City well. There were no past convictions,?

The criminal complaint against Rodriguez depicts him as a rogue cop.

The document asserts that Rodriguez ? aka ?Mad Dog? ? met a man and they planned the robbery of a Secaucus warehouse that held 50 cases of cigarettes and at least six televisions.

The plan was to sell the goods to the man?s friend for $5,000. There was one hitch in Rodriguez?s plan, through: His partner in crime was an undercover law enforcement officer, the complaint states.

Authorities watched and recorded Rodriguez as he and the undercover pulled off the heist on July 3, and then sold the items to another undercover officer in a Staten Island parking lot, the complaint states.

After this caper, Rodriguez agreed to rob an alleged drug courier of $20,000, according to the complaint.

Rodriguez suggested that he pose a Bayonne police officer to pull off the robbery, the documents states.

The robbery occurred on July 24, and in the end, Rodriguez flashed his Jersey City police badge, the complaint states.

The drug courier, and another person with the drug courier, were all government agents, the complaint states, adding this robbery was also watched and recorded.

Anthony Roman, 48, of Jersey City, who Rodriguez recruited to help him carry out this robbery, has been charged with conspiracy, authorities said.

Rodriguez, who earned $97,811 a year, has been suspended without pay, a city spokeswoman said.

"While it seems that Officer Rodriguez potentially made some very poor decisions for which he faces serious consequences as the judicial system takes its course, we are proud that the leadership in the Jersey City Police Department proactively brought this case to the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office when we suspected wrong doing," said city spokeswoman Jennifer Morrill. "As this investigation is being handled by the U.S. Attorney?s Office, we are not at liberty to comment further."

According to the World Series of Poker website, Rodriguez is also a noted gambler.

The site features this dated bio of the Jersey City cop:

?Mario Rodriguez is a 38-year-old Jersey City (NJ) police officer. He?s been with the force for 11 years. He?s had six final table appearances and ten cashes during his part-time poker career. Rodriguez is the proud father of two children. He hopes to become a full-time pro once he retires from the police force.?