A former Dunwoody police detective has pleaded guilty to tipping off a confidential informant in return for airline tickets to New York for himself and his wife, a convertible for his daughter, and a car for his son, federal authorities said Monday.
According to a statement from the office of acting U.S. Attorney John Horn, Robert Pasquale Bentivegna in July 2011 began using an individual connected with a variety of illegal activities as a confidential informant.
Bentivegna, 64, of Woodstock, performed searches and told the informant about any active arrest warrants listed under the informant’s name in the Georgia Crime Information Center database, Horn’s office said. Criminals can use such information to avoid arrest.
In return, over about 18 months, Bentivegna and his wife got the airline tickets, his daughter got use of the convertible for more than a year and his son received a car to drive for an unspecified period of time.
“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,” Horn said. “Bentivegna’s conduct undermines trust in law enforcement and could have exposed the public to significant harm.”
Bentivegna pleaded guilty to computer fraud for accessing information in the crime center database for an improper purpose. He is scheduled to be sentenced on June 1.
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