Former Officer Pleads Guilty to Kickback Scheme

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Robert Pasquale Bentivegna, a former detective with the Dunwoody Police Department, has pleaded guilty to disclosing sensitive law enforcement information in exchange for receiving kickbacks for him and his family, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia said on Monday.

Bentivegna, 64, of Woodstock pleaded guilty to computer fraud for accessing information in the Georgia Crime Information Center’s database for an “improper purpose.”

Sentencing is set for June 1 before United States District Judge Leigh Martin May.

“It is a sad day when a career law enforcement officer turns his back on decades of public service by selling his access to sensitive law enforcement information,” said Acting U.S. Attorney John Horn. “Bentivegna’s conduct undermines trust in law enforcement and could have exposed the public to significant harm.”

In July 2011, Bentivegna, who at the time was employed with Dunwoody police and who had also served as a federal task force officer, began using an individual connected with a variety of illegal activities as a confidential informant, Horn outlined in his investigation.

In exchange for receiving valuable personal items for himself and his family, Bentivegna performed searches and told the informant about any active arrest warrants listed under the informant’s name in the GCIC database.

Such information can be valuable information to criminals, allowing them to flee before authorities can arrest them, Horn’s office said.

In exchange, Bentivegna received airline tickets for himself and his wife to travel to New York, his daughter received a convertible car which she used for over a year and his son received a car to drive for a period of time. The former detective received the kickbacks over the course of 18 months, the office said.

This case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of Homeland Security - Office of the Inspector General. Assistant United States Attorney Garrett L. Bradford is prosecuting the case.

“The FBI’s number one criminal investigative program remains that of public corruption due to the vast harm that it can cause,” said J. Britt Johnson, special agent in charge, FBI Atlanta Field Office. “The guilty plea of former Dunwoody Detective Bentivegna illustrates the betrayal of the badge by a very seasoned law enforcement officer and the consequences that he now faces for this betrayal.”

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