Texas Border Business
U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Texas
LAREDO, Texas – A 29-year-old former Webb County sheriff’s deputy will serve federal prison time for sexually assaulting and violating the civil rights of a woman.
Ignacio Rodriguez IV pleaded guilty April 23.
U.S. District Judge Marina Garcia Marmolejo ordered Rodriguez to serve 240 months in federal prison to be immediately followed by five years of supervised release. At the hearing, the court heard testimony that the victim and her passenger, who had been pulled over by Rodriguez, repeatedly said they wanted to go home, but Rodriguez told them, “No, you have to convince me,” before directing them to a desolate area. In handing down the sentence, the court noted Rodriguez’s conduct was brazen, calculated, and extremely cruel.
“When a law enforcement officer commits sexual violence under the color of law, the harm reaches far beyond a single victim,” said U.S. Attorney Aaron Reitz. “It erodes community trust and undermines what it means to wear the uniform. Rodriguez’s abusive and predatory actions here were not only illegal, but immoral and disgusting.”
Rodriguez was a deputy with the Webb County Sheriff’s Office when he committed the offenses.
On Sept. 1, 2024, Rodriguez observed a vehicle traveling into oncoming traffic and conducted a traffic stop. He ordered the driver and a female passenger to exit the vehicle and stand near his marked patrol unit. Rodriguez then turned off his body-worn camera.
The passenger began recording portions of the interaction on her cell phone. The recording captured both women asking Rodriguez to let them go and Rodriguez repeatedly telling them they needed to “convince him.” He then took the driver’s cell phone and instructed the women to follow him to a nearby street.
Once there, the passenger remained in their vehicle while Rodriguez took the victim into his marked patrol unit, when he forced her to perform oral sex and groped her breast without her consent.
Rodriguez will remain in custody pending transfer to a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
The FBI and the Laredo Police Department conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Leslie Ann Cortez and Brandon Scott Bowling prosecuted the case.
Updated October 6, 2026
