FORMER WEBB COUNTY SHERIFF’S DEPUTY SENTENCED TO 20 YEARS FOR SEXUAL ASSAULT AND CIVIL RIGHTS VIOLATION AFTER TRAFFIC STOP

LAREDO, Texas — A former Webb County sheriff’s deputy has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison after admitting that he sexually assaulted a woman during a traffic stop while acting under color of law.

Ignacio Rodriguez IV, 29, pleaded guilty on April 23 and was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Marina Garcia Marmolejo to 240 months in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release.

Rodriguez was serving as a deputy with the Webb County Sheriff’s Office when the assault occurred on September 1, 2024.

According to federal prosecutors, Rodriguez observed a vehicle traveling into oncoming traffic and initiated a traffic stop. He ordered the driver and a female passenger out of the vehicle and directed them to stand near his marked patrol unit.

Rodriguez then turned off his body-worn camera.

The passenger began recording portions of the encounter on her cell phone. That recording captured both women repeatedly asking Rodriguez to allow them to leave. Prosecutors said Rodriguez responded by telling them, “No, you have to convince me,” and repeatedly insisted they needed to “convince him” before he would let them go.

Rodriguez then took the driver’s cell phone and directed both women to follow him to another location.

Federal prosecutors said Rodriguez led the women to a desolate area, where the passenger remained inside their vehicle while Rodriguez took the driver into his marked patrol unit.

Inside the patrol vehicle, Rodriguez forced the woman to perform oral sex and groped her breast without her consent.

At sentencing, the court heard testimony concerning the traffic stop and the women’s repeated attempts to leave. Judge Marmolejo characterized Rodriguez’s conduct as brazen, calculated and extremely cruel before imposing the 20-year prison sentence.

The case represents a serious abuse of law-enforcement authority because Rodriguez used the power associated with his badge, patrol vehicle and detention of the women to isolate and sexually assault the victim.

Civil rights prosecutions involving law-enforcement officers can arise when an officer uses official authority to deprive another person of rights protected by federal law. In this case, Rodriguez’s actions occurred during an official traffic stop while he was functioning as a Webb County sheriff’s deputy.

His decision to disable his body-worn camera before the assault became a significant part of the factual record because the encounter continued outside the normal documentation provided by the department-issued recording system. The passenger’s cell phone recording preserved portions of the interaction, including the women asking to leave and Rodriguez repeatedly telling them they needed to convince him.

The conduct also illustrates the heightened vulnerability created when a law-enforcement officer abuses authority during a roadside detention. A person stopped by an officer is ordinarily expected to comply with lawful commands, creating a power imbalance that becomes especially serious when official authority is used to facilitate criminal conduct.

U.S. Attorney Aaron Reitz for the Southern District of Texas said sexual violence committed by a law-enforcement officer under color of law damages more than the immediate victim because it also undermines public confidence in law enforcement institutions.

Rodriguez’s conviction followed his guilty plea rather than a trial, and the 240-month sentence establishes the federal punishment for his conduct.

The FBI and Laredo Police Department investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Leslie Ann Cortez and Brandon Scott Bowling prosecuted the matter for the Southern District of Texas.

Rodriguez remains in custody pending transfer to a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility.

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