A former patrol officer with the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) was recently sentenced in U.S. District Court to 20 months in prison for his role in a bribery scheme in which he unlawfully provided non-public police information in exchange for cash payments.
The sentencing of Vincent Forrest was announced by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and FBI Assistant Director in Charge David Sundberg of the Washington field office.
On January 11, 2024, a jury found Washington D.C. resident Forest guilty of conspiracy, bribery, and making false statements. In addition to the prison term, Forrest was ordered to serve three years of supervised release and forfeit $15,000.01.
According to the government’s trial evidence, beginning in April 2019, Forrest used his official access to MPD’s law enforcement sensitive database to review and record victim contact information from traffic accident reports that contained the names and contact information of individuals involved in traffic accidents.
Forrest sent the victim contact information to Raquel DePaula, 43, of Beltsville, Maryland, using an encrypted communications application. DePaula, who owned RD Legal Solutions, LLC, acted as a “runner,” providing victim contact information to local attorneys in exchange for referral fees. The attorneys then reached out to the accident victims within days of their traffic accidents in violation of D.C. law.
According to prosecutors, DePaula testified at trial that she paid Forrest for the victim contact information. The evidence at trial showed that over the course of the scheme, she paid Forrest over $15,000 and received contact information for 2,667 traffic crash victims.
On October 6, 2021, in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, DePaula pleaded guilty to one count of bribery of a public official. On April 1, 2024, she was sentenced to five years of probation.
DePaula and Forrest are the sixth and seventh defendants to be convicted in connection with the illegal sale of traffic crash reports by MPD officers. Previously, MPD Officers Walter Lee and Kendra Coles, MPD employee Aaron Willis, business owner Marvin Parker and law firm employee Michelle Cage pleaded guilty to related charges.
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