ATLANTA—Former Dunwoody Police Detective Robert Pasquale Bentivegna has pleaded guilty to disclosing sensitive law enforcement information in exchange for receiving kickbacks for him and his family, federal officials said.
“It is a sad day when a career law enforcement officer turns his back on decades of public service by selling his access to sensitive law enforcement information,” said Acting U.S. Attorney John Horn. “Bentivegna’s conduct undermines trust in law enforcement and could have exposed the public to significant harm.”
In exchange for information, officials said over the course of approximately 18 months, Bentivegna received airline tickets for himself and his wife to travel to New York, his daughter received a convertible car which she used for over a year, and his son received a car to drive for a period of time.
Bentivegna, 64, of Woodstock, Georgia, pleaded guilty to computer fraud for accessing information in the Georgia Crime Information Center or CIC database for an improper purpose.
He is scheduled to be sentenced in June.
According to Acting U.S. Attorney Horn, these are the charges and other information presented in court:
In July 2011, Bentivegna, a career law enforcement officer employed at the time with the Dunwoody, Georgia, Police Department and who had also served as a federal task force officer, began using an individual connected with a variety of illegal activities as a confidential informant.
In exchange for valuable personal items for himself and his family, Bentivegna performed searches and informed the confidential informant about any active arrest warrants listed under the informant’s name in the GCIC database.
Such information can be valuable information to criminals, allowing them to flee before authorities can arrest them.
