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Jul 16, 2008 3:00 pm US/Central
Ex-Constable Charged With Helping Drug Dealer
McKINNEY (CBS 11 News) ―
A former Collin County deputy constable and sheriff's deputy
is charged with feeding information about undercover police operations to an
admitted drug dealer.
The drug dealer and the ex-constable are cousins.
Authorities say
41-year-old Robert Benavidez of Melissa told his cousin about undercover federal agents who were watching the
cousin's drug deals.
A Collin County grand jury handed up indictments of Benavidez on Tuesday. Benavidez, who was arrested last week,
is charged with six counts of abuse of official capacity in excess of
$200,000.
The Texas Rangers are investigating the case.
A Rangers' investigator says the cousin, Sergio
Maldonado, pleaded guilty last month to federal drug-trafficking and
money-laundering charges.
Benavidez worked as a deputy
constable in Collin County Precinct 4 at the time of the alleged crimes and is
currently a sergeant at Richland College.
The college put him on paid administrative leave the day he was arrested.
According to state affidavits filed in the case, while he
was a constable Benavidez had access to the government's National Crime
Information Center computer database.
That's a nationwide system used by police and federal agencies to track
and share information about crimes, criminals, suspects and law enforcement
activity. Access is heavily restricted,
and only authorized law enforcement personnel can use it.
The affidavits say that beginning in 2004, Maldonado called Benavidez
about vehicles that he thought were being used for surveillance by undercover
officers. Benavidez would use the
N.C.I.C. terminal in the constable's office to check the license plates and
registrations of the vehicles and tell his cousin if they were government
vehicles, according to authorities.
On several occasions, the government says, Benavidez used
the information to identify vehicles that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency was
using for surveillance of Maldonado.
Investigators say Benavidez also used the N.C.I.C. system to
check for any outstanding warrants against Maldonado or his wife.
As payment for the information, Maldonado told investigators
that he regularly gave cocaine to Benavidez.
Benavidez is not currently facing any drug charges.
The Collin County Constable for District 4, Johnny Todd, told
investigators that Benavidez frequently drove new cars such as Mercedes-Benzes
and Hummers. According to the affidavits,
Benavidez told Todd that the cars belonged to his cousin, Maldonado.
Benavidez was a Collin County Sheriff's deputy from 1996
until 2001, when he quit to become a deputy constable. He held that job until July, 2006. In November of that year, Richland College
hired him for its police force.
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