Middle River Man Sentenced in Towing Scheme

A Middle River man on Wednesday became the 11th Baltimore City police officer sentenced in an illegal towing scheme involving a Rosedale auto shop.

Rodney Cintron, 32, of Middle River, was sentenced to to 42 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release on charges of conspiracy to commit and committing extortion, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland.

The owners of Majestic Auto Repair paid Cintron and other Baltimore City police officers to arrange for their company—rather than a city-authorized business—to tow vehicles from accident scenes and make repairs, according to a news release.

The officers contacted Majestic owners Herman Alexis Moreno and Edwin Javier Mejia for towing and repair services, even though Majestic was not an authorized Baltimore City towing company, according to the officers' plea deal.

In exchange, the owners paid Rodriguez and Cintron up to $300 for each vehicle they referred to Majestic, according to the release. Moreno, 30, of Rosedale, and Mejia, 27, of Middle River, .

As part of the conspiracy, the officers persuaded those involved in accidents to allow their cars to be sent to Majestic by telling them that the business could tow the car, provide repair services, help with the insurance claim, assist in getting a rental car and waive the owner’s deductible, according to the release.

According to his plea deal, Citron admitted that from 2008 to 2010, Moreno paid him in more than $13,000 for vehicles that he referred to Majestic. These payments were made in cash and check, including some checks made out to Cintron’s wife.

According to a news release, Cintron also recruited other city officers to participate in the scheme and allowed Moreno and Mejia to create additional damage to other vehicles so that they could increase the insurance claim.

Also, as part of the scheme, Cintron falsified police reports claiming there was more damage to vehicles than actually occurred, according to the plea deal.

In addition, Cintron admitted as part of his plea deal that he falsely reported his car was vandalized so that he could have his vehicle repainted by Majestic and paid for through an insurance claim.