A Florida deputy was fired and arrested after allegedly being involved in a revenge plot that aimed to frame an innocent man on drug charges.
NBC News reports Niko Irizarry, 25, who was formerly employed by the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, was arrested last Friday and charged with felony official misconduct. Irizarry’s arrest comes two months after he allegedly worked with two other men, Charles Custodio and Scott Snider, in an attempt to frame an innocent man.
According to court documents obtained by the Washington Post, the victim, a real estate broker, had previously been a witness in a case against Custudio in which the latter ended up spending time in jail.
In an effort to get revenge on the victim, Custodio allegedly secured a large number of drugs and gave them to Snider, who posed as a potential client of the victim. After attending a business meeting with the victim, Snider planted a briefcase of drugs in the broker’s vehicle.
Custodio then contacted Irizarry so that the then-deputy could make the arrest. On December 16, Irizarry pulled the victim over for a supposed traffic violation. With the assistance of drug-sniffing dogs, police discovered over 50 bags of opioids, and methamphetamines, all of which were allegedly planted by Snider to frame the man.
An internal investigation into the Dec. 16 arrest resulted in the termination of Irizarry. The former deputy was later arrested, followed by the arrests of Custodio and Snider. The latter two have both been charged with trafficking in fentanyl, possession of a controlled substance, and conspiracy. The charges against the victim of the alleged revenge plot have since been tossed.
“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,” Sheriff Carmine Marceno said at a news conference. “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.”
