According to NBC affiliate WTVJ reports, a former Miami police officer who stole drugs and cash during traffic stops was given an 11-year and three-month jail sentence on Tuesday.
The FBI detained Frenel Cenat, 41, in November 2023. Frenel joined the Miami Police Department in September 2008 and was assigned to the property and evidence unit by 2020.
An insider informed law enforcement To pilfer drugs and cash from those who were known to be involved in drug trafficking, Cenat was stopping cars.
According to the informant, the three discussed how Cenat could stop people after a drug deal and collect about $50,000 in drug proceeds after their introduction to the man through a mutual friend.
The Department of Justice claims that at the time of the crimes, Cenat was driving an unmarked Ford Explorer from the Miami Police Department as a “take home” vehicle.
The group scheduled the traffic stop rip-off for November 3, 2023, on November 1, 2023. In order to increase the likelihood that the driver would comply, Cenat told the group he would terrify them into thinking they were under investigation for a while.
On Nov. 3, Cenat saw a manufactured cocaine deal in a Miami Gardens hotel parking lot. He then pursued a motorist who had just received $52,000 in cash in a backpack.
Cenat had no idea that the drivers were FBI undercover officers.
Presenting himself as “Officer Martez,” Cenat offered the undercover agent the option of turning in the backpack or facing jail time. Cenat was given the backpack by the agency.
Cenat requested the source to arrange another traffic stop scheme later that month so he could obtain seven to ten kg of cocaine.
Following a fictitious narcotics transaction on Nov. 16, 2023, Cenat stopped another undercover agent, identifying himself once more as “Officer Martez” from the “Broward County Sheriff’s Office – Narcotics Unit.”
Upon obtaining approximately $80,000 and seven kilograms of simulated cocaine, Cenat informed the undercover agent that he was now employed by him, unless he desired to be sent to federal jail.
Police detained Cenat not long after he fled with the cash and fake cocaine.
According to the authorities, Cenat might receive a minimum penalty of 10 years and a maximum sentence of life in prison.