Did Fort Myers PD know about prostitution accusations in 2013 after sting?

Reporter: Justin Kase
Published: Updated:
Credit: WINK News.

Did the police department know about an officer’s undercover sting where he is accused of soliciting a prostitute and then going through with the sex act years before he was arrested? New documents show at least one person in the department knew in 2013 shortly after the sting. The arrest came this year.

Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigators questioned the man who initially released a video. Det. Donald Weathers said he was too scared to report the video because “of the power Rodriguez had.” Det. Weathers added he was scared because the former head of internal affairs, Dennis Eads, was close friends with Jay Rodriguez.

Det. Weathers said he knew of this five years before the investigation began in 2013. Det. Weathers was investigated for perjury and later fired by the Fort Myers Police Department. These documents also show why there are discrepancies between what was in the prostitution sting’s police report and what we see on the video.

FDLE investigators found that Rodriguez sent an email to the reporting officer with the title “Narrative.” Part of that email is word for word what you will find in the prostitution sting arrest reports. He was not the author of the report.

So far, WINK News has tried to contact the attorney of Rodriguez, Weathers, Eads and the FMPD. Eads said he would like to read the information before he comments. FMPD told WINK, “we cannot comment as the case is still working its way through the justice system.”

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