CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A 29-year-old former Webb County sheriff's deputy was sentenced to 240 months in federal prison for sexually assaulting a woman and violating her civil rights during a traffic stop.
Ignacio Rodriguez IV, who was a deputy with the Webb County Sheriff's Office at the time of the offense, pleaded guilty April 23. U.S. District Judge Marina Garcia Marmolejo imposed the sentence, which will be immediately followed by 5 years of supervised release.
At the sentencing hearing, the court heard testimony that Rodriguez directed the victim and her passenger to a desolate area after repeatedly telling them, "No, you have to convince me," when they asked to go home. The court noted Rodriguez's conduct was brazen, calculated, and extremely cruel.
"When a law enforcement officer commits sexual violence under the color of law, the harm reaches far beyond a single victim," U.S. Attorney Aaron Reitz said. "It erodes community trust and undermines what it means to wear the uniform. Rodriguez's abusive and predatory actions here were not only illegal, but immoral and disgusting."
On Sept. 1, 2024, Rodriguez observed a vehicle traveling into oncoming traffic and conducted a traffic stop. He ordered the driver and a female passenger to exit the vehicle and stand near his marked patrol unit. Rodriguez then turned off his body-worn camera.
The passenger began recording portions of the interaction on her cell phone. The recording captured both women asking Rodriguez to let them go and Rodriguez repeatedly telling them they needed to "convince him." He then took the driver's cell phone and instructed the women to follow him to a nearby street.
Once there, the passenger remained in their vehicle while Rodriguez took the victim into his marked patrol unit, where he forced her to perform oral sex and groped her breast without her consent.
The FBI and the Laredo Police Department conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Leslie Ann Cortez and Brandon Scott Bowling prosecuted the case.
Rodriguez will remain in custody pending transfer to a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
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