LANSING ? Juan Miguel Rodriguez-Venegas, 55, of Florida, pled guilty today to one count of Conducting a Criminal Enterprise in the 42nd Circuit Court in Midland County for stealing money orders and cash out of drop boxes at apartment complexes and mobile home parks, announced Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel. As part of the plea, Rodriguez-Venegas will pay $36,235 in restitution.

?Hardworking Michiganders deserve peace of mind knowing their rent payments are safe,? Nessel said. ?I am grateful for our partnership with Midland County Prosecuting Attorney J. Dee Brooks, whose office initially filed these charges, and the efforts of all involved to make possible this conviction and restitution to the victims of these thefts.?

The Midland County Prosecutor?s Office filed charges jointly with the Department of Attorney General against Rodriguez-Venegas in March. He was charged with one count of Conducting a Criminal Enterprise, six counts of Larceny in a Building, and one count of Possession of Burglars? Tools. In 2019 and 2022, Rodriguez-Venegas targeted drop boxes at apartment complexes and mobile home parks in Bay, Midland, Oakland, and Saginaw Counties to steal money orders and cash.

?I again want to thank Det. Mark Stefaniak of the Midland Police Department, Assistant Midland County Prosecutor Courtney Driscoll and M. Elizabeth Lippitt of the State Attorney General's Office, for their hard work and dedication in helping us to identify and bring to justice one of the defendants involved in this multiple jurisdictional criminal enterprise,? said Midland County Prosecuting Attorney J. Dee Brooks. ?This case serves as a great example of what we can accomplish when we work together to hold even out of state perpetrators responsible for their criminal acts in Michigan.?

Rodriguez-Venegas will be sentenced on September 26th in front of Judge Stephen P. Carras in the 42nd Circuit Court in Midland County.

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