LANSING – The Midland County Prosecutor’s Office has filed charges jointly with the Department of Attorney General against Rafael Rodriguez and Juan Miguel Rodriguez-Venegas, both from Florida, for conducting a criminal enterprise (CCE) and six counts of larceny in a building, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced Wednesday.
Additional charges include two counts of uttering and publishing for Rodriguez, and possession of burglar’s tools for Rodriguez-Venegas. Under the CCE charge, predicate acts include:
- Six instances of larceny in a building in Midland County
- One instance of larceny in a building in Bay County
- Four instances of larceny in a building in Oakland County
- Two instances of larceny in a building in Saginaw County
The men are charged for allegedly fishing money orders and cash out of drop boxes at apartment complexes and mobile home parks. They then allegedly cashed the money orders and kept the cash. The crimes are alleged to have taken place in 2019 and 2022.
”Michigan residents who submit their rental payments through dedicated drop boxes should be able to trust that those payments will be used for their intended purposes and not to line the pockets of criminals,” Nessel said.
”This is a very unusual but important case in that it involves many apparent criminal offenses in multiple jurisdictions, and we look forward to partnering with the Attorney General’s Office to address the problem with out of state actors coming into Michigan to victimize our citizens,” said Midland County Prosecuting Attorney J. Dee Brooks.