The girlfriend of a Miami police officer has admitted to pretending to be a detective and demanding thousands of dollars to have an inmate released.
The Miami Herald reports that 50-year-old Maria Cabrera Gonzalez pleaded guilty Friday to impersonating a police officer and grand theft. She has been sentenced to one year of house arrest, plus four years of probation and restitution.
Prosecutors say Cabrera was with her girlfriend, Officer Sheila Belfort, when the two pulled over Moises Escoto in June 2014 and jailed him on a charge of driving without a license. Authorities say Cabrera shook down Escoto's family for $2,400, promising that the cash would free him from jail and help with "immigration concerns."
Escoto was later deported to his native Honduras.
A police spokeswoman says Belfort hasn't been charged, but she remains under investigation.
