An NYPD officer used his own police car to pull off a drug-related robbery, federal prosecutors said Friday.
Juan Acosta pulled over a drug dealer in 2005 and allegedly stole several hundred thousand dollars, according to investigators. The FBI said Acosta used his police car to make it appear his taking of the cash was a real police department seizure.
Prosecutors said Acosta met with an informant and allegedly agreed to provide protection for an incoming cocaine shipment which was going to be driven from Long Island to the Bronx. On November 12, Acosta allegedly transported a shipment he thought were drugs in exchange for $15,000.
Acosta had been working as an officer in the 43rd police precinct in the Bronx.
A suspected drug dealer, Yorick Rafael Corniel-Perez, was also charged in this case. Both men face drug conspiracy counts which carry up to 10 years in prison.
The pair is expected to be arraigned in federal court in Manhattan Friday afternoon.
