Interviews with former FMPD police captain accused of sex act during a prostitution sting released

Former Fort Myers Police Department Captain Jay Rodriguez was in court Tuesday as part of a status check on the criminal case against him.

Right now, he faces perjury, misconduct, and solicitation of prostitution charges stemming from his role in an undercover sting inside a Fort Myers massage parlor.

Now, the prosecutor in charge of the case is considering filing more charges against Rodriguez.

He’s using this evidence to build a bigger case against the former captain.

In the video, Rodriguez is heard talking to Fort Myers police last April, after he filed an extortion complaint against community activist Anthony Thomas.

Thomas is a frequent critic of the department who’s calling for the Lee County Sheriff’s Office to take over police duties in the city.

The state attorney’s office filed additional charges against Rodriguez back in December for false reporting of a crime and tampering with evidence.

That false report was an extortion complaint.

Rodriguez claimed Thomas confronted him at a council meeting about video that reportedly showed Rodriguez in a sex act during a prostitution sting.

“And, I really didn’t put two and two together, and then I think by later that afternoon, I want to say a couple of our officers were already, like they uh, somebody had told them about it, and it was, it there was already becoming pretty public.

According to Rodriguez Thomas told him to pay up. A transcript of the interview details the questions and answers between Rodriguez and a detective:

Q1: And, was that his exact words?

A1: I don’t, I, he said… definitely pay for it, came up

Q1: You, you heard the words pay for it, but you’re not sure

A1: Yes, without a doubt!

Thomas claims this was all a lie and wants justice to be served, “Not only did I not say that, but no one, not even a member of the media corroborated anything that he stated”

Three months later in February 2019, Thomas posted the video on Facebook, which led Fort Myers Police to put Rodriguez on paid leave.

In September, Rodriguez resigned, on the same day FDLE arrested him on prostitution, official misconduct and perjury charges.