MIAMI, FLORIDA – A former cop who stole money and drugs from suspects who he arrested plead guilty to posting court- protected information on Internet that revealed the names of detectives who wrote an anonymous letter to the City of Miami’s Internal Affairs about the thefts and other crimes, authorities announced today.
Former City of Miami Police Sergeant Raul Iglesias, 41, Miami, pled guilty to one count of criminal contempt for violating a United States District Court protective order.
Iglesias’ sentencing is scheduled for September, and he facing life in prison and fines of up to $250,000, officials said.
In 2010, the FBI and City of Miami Police Department Internal Affairs Unit initiated an investigation of Iglesias after receiving an anonymous letter that indicated Iglesias was stealing money and drugs from his arrests.
At the time, Iglesias was assigned to the Crime Suppression Unit which targeted neighborhoods plagued with narcotics trafficking and violent crime. It was later discovered that Criminal Suppression detectives in Iglesias’ unit wrote the anonymous letter.
Iglesias was indicted by a grand jury for the thefts and other felonies.
A jury had found Iglesias guilty of eight of nine counts including conspiracy, violation of civil rights, possession with intent to distribute cocaine, obstruction of justice, and making false statements.
Iglesias was sentenced to four years and ordered to turn himself into the Federal Bureau of Prison on April 26, 2013.
But on April 24, 2013, less than two days before he was required to surrender to begin serving his sentence, Iglesias posted protected audio recordings of the undercover conversations made by cooperating CSU detectives on YouTube and Leoaffairs.com, an internet message board which catered to law enforcement.
Both the YouTube and Leoaffairs.com postings were titled “Miami Mice” and were posted by Iglesias using the screen name of “Chivas Regal,” authorities said.
After the protected undercover recordings became public, officials claim that unknown individuals using fictitious screen names posted threatening or derogatory comments against the cooperating Crime Suppression detectives on the Leo Affairs message board.
The detectives also found derogatory notes on their vehicles and in their mail boxes at work, and officers stopped responding to their calls to provide backup, according to authorities.
The case was investigated by the FBI, Miami Police Department and the Miami Area Corruption Task Force.