A former sheriff’s deputy in Webb County, Texas, was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison this week for sexually assaulting a woman in his patrol car during a traffic stop, according to Breitbart Texas.
Ignacio Rodriguez IV, who had been a deputy with the Webb County Sheriff’s Office in the border city of Laredo, learned his fate before U.S. District Judge Marina Marmolejo in the Southern District of Texas. Rodriguez pleaded guilty on April 23 to a charge of depriving a citizen of her legal rights under color of law, and prosecutors agreed to dismiss additional counts as part of the plea deal.
A Traffic Stop and a Demand
The case dates back to September 1, 2024, when Rodriguez pulled over a vehicle that was traveling on the wrong side of the road. Two women were inside. According to court documents, both told the deputy they had been drinking and were heading home from a pool party.
What unfolded next formed the core of the federal case against him. Rodriguez told one of the women that she would need to convince him to let them go, or he would take them to jail. The woman repeatedly told him she was in a relationship and was not interested in men. At some point, the deputy turned off his body camera, took the woman to his patrol car, and, according to the court record, intimidated her verbally while gesturing with his hands toward the handgun on his belt.
Once inside the patrol car, court documents say Rodriguez unzipped his pants, exposed himself, and forced her to perform oral sex in a manner that was rough enough to cause her to vomit. He then let her go — but not before using her cell phone to call his own number, obtaining her phone number in the process.
Evidence Backed the Woman’s Account
The victim’s family contacted local police after she returned home, and she was taken to a hospital for a post-sexual assault examination. That examination confirmed her account, according to the court records described by Breitbart Texas.
Investigators with local police and the Texas Department of Public Safety also gathered video recordings from the surrounding area that corroborated the woman’s claims. Those recordings, along with the medical evidence, helped federal prosecutors build the case that culminated in Rodriguez’s guilty plea and, this week, his sentencing.
The 20-year term reflects the severity of a civil rights violation committed by an officer who was entrusted with enforcing the law along one of the busiest stretches of the U.S.-Mexico border. Webb County, which includes Laredo, is a frequent focal point for state and federal law enforcement activity, and cases involving misconduct by local officers there have drawn attention well beyond South Texas.
Rodriguez’s sentence was handed down in federal court, where depriving someone of their civil rights under color of law carries substantial prison time. Because he pleaded guilty rather than going to trial, the case moved through the system without a jury, and the additional charges he initially faced were dropped as part of the agreement with prosecutors.
The Webb County Sheriff’s Office has not issued a public statement on the sentencing as of this report. Rodriguez is now set to serve two decades behind bars for actions that a federal judge determined stripped a woman of her legal rights during what should have been a routine traffic stop.
Source: www.breitbart.com — https://www.breitbart.com/border/2026/10/07/texas-border-county-sheriffs-deputy-sent-to-prison-for-sexually-assaulting-woman-while-on-duty/