After Raleigh officer’s drug charges, Wake DA dismisses some cases he was involved with
The Wake County district attorney said she has started dismissing some criminal cases involving a Raleigh police officer whom federal agents arrested last month for allegedly selling cocaine while on the job.
Six people arrested in cases that involved officer Keven Rodriguez have had their pending cases dismissed so far in the ongoing review, District Attorney Lorrin Freeman told The News & Observer this week.
Freeman’s office is reviewing about 25 additional pending criminal cases to assess Rodriguez’s involvement in them as a charging officer, a necessary witness or another essential role, she said.
“This strikes at the very trust of the system,” Freeman told The N&O in an interview. “We’re going to do our due diligence to make sure that we do not move forward in cases in which it is not appropriate to move forward in.”
On Feb. 24, U.S. Attorney Michael Easley Jr. announced that Rodriguez, a field operations officer, was arrested by the Drug Enforcement Agency for allegedly selling 56 grams of cocaine in January. He was charged with distribution of a quantity of cocaine and possession of a firearm in connection with that offense, Easley said.
Freeman said she expects to dismiss about half of the 25 pending cases involving Rodriguez, depending on his involvement in them.
“We have to just kind of figure out: ‘What was his role in these cases, and did it have any effect on the outcome of the case?’” Freeman said. “I do want to be clear that if he was a primary officer or a primary witness, we are not moving forward (with prosecuting) those cases.”
If he played a more limited role, Freeman is assessing whether the case should be dismissed.
When investigation began
The review of the cases goes back to November 2021, when Rodriguez’s suspected misconduct began, Freeman said.
Investigators with the Raleigh Police Department told the District Attorney’s Office that the allegations against Rodriguez were not “a longstanding issue.” He joined the police force July 30, 2018.
“At some point, if it becomes evident that the conduct in question has been going on long enough to call (more) cases into question, then we will go back and review those,” Freeman said.
In November, two confidential sources informed the Raleigh Police Department and the DEA that Rodriguez was selling drugs in Raleigh, according to an affidavit that’s part of the federal criminal complaint filed in the Eastern District of North Carolina.
Upon receiving the tips, Raleigh Police Chief Estella Patterson said last month that the department “moved swiftly” to begin an investigation.
The DEA collaborated with an informant to arrange a drug deal with Rodriguez in Raleigh. On Jan. 24, Rodriguez sold the informant cocaine for $2,600 in cash while in uniform, carrying his service weapon and driving his patrol car, according to a federal complaint.
After the transaction, Rodriguez offered to follow the informant to their destination to offer security, the affidavit states, but instead returned to the Raleigh Police Department station.
The transaction was recorded on audio and video and observed live by agents, according to an affidavit.
Rodriguez is being held in jail indefinitely without bond and waived his right to a detention hearing, WRAL reported this month.
The case is set for trial in the Eastern District of North Carolina on May 3 in Wilmington.
Which cases get dismissed?
The cases under review are “overwhelmingly misdemeanor offenses or low-level nonviolent felony cases,” Freeman said.
A majority of the cases are for misdemeanor charges, such as marijuana possession, driving while impaired, speeding, resisting arrest and other traffic stops, according to a list the District Attorney’s office provided to The N&O.
There are a few that involve assaults, including one charge for an assault on a law enforcement officer. In that case, Rodriguez was a witness on the scene but was not a charging officer.
The list of cases include six drug-related charges and at least four DWI charges.
The list did not include the six cases that already have been dismissed and had their charges expunged, Freeman said.
No criminal cases resulting in prison time or incarceration have been identified for review at this point in the Raleigh Police Department’s investigation, Freeman said.
The review will likely be completed by April.
Rare situation
Situations like these are rare, but have happened before in Freeman’s career. In each case, it is a tedious and careful process to review which cases must be dismissed, she said.
In September 2020, 14 drug trafficking charges were thrown out after fired Raleigh police detective Omar Abdullah and others were investigated for fabricating heroin trafficking offenses that led to an illegal raid, excessive force and false imprisonment, The N&O reported previously.
The city agreed to pay 15 plaintiffs $2 million in that case after a federal lawsuit contends Abdullah and other officers worked with a confidential informant to frame people on drug trafficking charges.
“In terms of the number of cases and types of cases to be dismissed, this is not the most voluminous situation I’ve seen,” Freeman said about cases involving Rodriguez.
In March 2016, Freeman dismissed over 100 DUI cases and over 70 other traffic cases when former deputy Robert Davis of the Wake County Sheriff’s Office was determined to have been lying in those cases.
This story was originally published March 10, 2022 at 5:45 AM.
