A former patrol officer from Washington, DC, who was found guilty of selling local lawyers the personal information of victims of auto accidents as part of a multi-year bribery conspiracy, will spend time behind bars.
According to representatives of the US Department of Justice (DoJ), Vincent Forrest, a 36-year-old disgraced police officer, participated in the scam from April 2019 until his arrest in June 2021, when he was employed by the Washington, DC, Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).
According to the charges, Forest received cash payments totaling hundreds of dollars each week for breaking into an MPD database that the department used to keep private data about recent traffic incidents.
Using an “encrypted communications app,” the former MPD officer would illegally email the names and contact details of the most recent accident victims to the owner of a local Maryland legal firm after going through the database.
According to court records, Forrest would get paid a weekly bribe of between $1,200 and $1,800 in exchange for the victim’s contact details.
Within days following their crashes, crash victims would receive calls from the law firm, RD Legal Solutions, asking them to retain legal representation.
Raquel DePaula, 43, the firm’s owner, is accused by the FBI of acting as a “‘runner’ by providing victim contact information to local attorneys in exchange for referral fees.”
In 2021, DePaula was found guilty on one count of corrupting a public officer and was placed on five years of probation.
During her trial, she stated that she gave Forrest more than $15,000 in exchange for the contact details of 2,667 people who had been injured in traffic crashes.
A jury found Forrest guilty of conspiracy, bribery, and making false statements when he went on trial in January.
A Washington district judge ruled on Wednesday that he will now serve 20 months in jail, have three years of free time, and pay a fine of $15,000.01.
According to the DoJ, DePaula and Forrest are two of the seven defendants found guilty in relation to the unlawful sale of traffic crash reports by MPD officers.
Marvin Parker, the owner of the company, Officers Walter Lee and Kendra Coles, Aaron Willis of the MPD, and Michelle Cage of the legal firm have all entered guilty pleas to charges related to the bribery conspiracy.
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