Jersey City Cop Admits To Stealing, Extorting From Government Informant

TRENTON, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- A Jersey City police officer admitted Friday that he stole more than half a million cigarettes, and extorted $20,000, from a person he thought was a drug courier.

Officer Mario Rodriguez, 39, pleaded guilty in U.S. District court in Trenton Friday to transporting stolen goods and extortion conspiracy. The extortion charge carries a maximum 20-year sentence

The U.S. Attorney's office says Rodriguez, of Jersey City, was approached by a government informant last year to help him steal cigarettes and TVs from a trailer parked in Secaucus. The two allegedly sold the goods on Staten Island to an undercover officer posing as a buyer.

Later, Rodriguez and the informant allegedly met another undercover agent and planned the robbery of a female drug courier. Unbeknownst to Rodriguez, the woman also was an undercover agent.

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