A police officer from Florida was arrested and fired for his role in a reported drug-planting issue in exchange for sexual favors in Paris.
The officer was identified as Niko Irizarry who previously served as a deputy at the Lee County Sherriff’s Office according to his superior, Carmine Marceno in a report from the NY Daily News on Friday, Feb. 11.
The 25-year-old cop was allegedly contacted by Charles Custodio who was seeking vengeance against the unnamed victim. It was the 37-year-old man who conspired with Irizarry and promised undisclosed sexual favors and the Parisian vacation if the former officer would help in the fentanyl-planting scheme, according to investigators.
“Nobody is above the law, and that includes our deputies,” Marceno stated.
It was not mentioned if Irizarry had ever gotten any kind of compensation or the promises to him after the incident.
Custodio and Scott Snider were charged with trafficking fentanyl, possession of a controlled substance and conspiracy. The 25-year-old deputy was also charged with falsifying an official document.
It was on Dec. 16 when Irizarry reportedly took into custody the victim on narcotics charges, NBC News reported.
A complaint was logged last month and it was here when Florida police looked into the arrest and discovered it was unlawful.
It was learned that Custodio obtained a large number of drugs and gave them to Snider. Snider hen posed as a real estate client and met up with the victim, who worked as a real estate broker.
“The task force conducted a thorough investigation revealing an elaborate conspiracy to plant illegal drugs in the victim’s vehicle and arrange for a traffic stop on that vehicle after the drugs were planted," Marceno said. "The task force utilized state-of-the-art technology ... to reveal the true names of those involved to identify and access bogus email accounts and text messages.”
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