Ex-Miami cop who extorted cash and drugs from dealers sentenced to 11 years in prison

During the undercover meeting, Cenat discussed the bills he was going to pay from his next “play,” saying: “I just need bread now.”

FBI agents pose as drug traffickers

In early November, the confidential source and associate coordinated the “play” with Cenat through group chats on Signal, setting up a sting where two undercover FBI employees posing as drug traffickers planned to do a deal involving three kilograms of cocaine worth $52,000 at the Stadium Hotel parking lot in Miami Gardens, the affidavit says. Cenat’s role was to stop one of the FBI employees after the transaction and shake him down for the purported drug proceeds.

On the evening of Nov. 3, 2023, the “play” went according to plan. Cenat made the traffic stop and told the FBI employee posing as the driver that his name was “Officer Martez” with the “Miami Police Department, Dade County Narcotics Unit.” He told the undercover employee, who had stashed the $52,000 in $100 bills in a backpack, that he was under investigation for drug dealing.

“Cenat then gave [the FBI employee] the choice of giving him the backpack or going to jail, and as planned, [the employee] told him to take the backpack,” the affidavit says. “Cenat then left the scene with the backpack of money.”

The entire stop was recorded.

Cenat then agreed to meet with the FBI’s confidential source to give him a cut of the money at a Home Depot in Coral Springs. Cenat handed over $13,000 to the confidential source, which was recorded, too.

After that payoff, Cenat kept the remaining $39,000 and drove to his home in Boynton Beach.

Days later, Cenat called the confidential source to see about doing another “play,” leading to another FBI sting involving seven kilos of cocaine worth $80,000 at a Fairfield Inn parking lot in Deerfield Beach, according to the affidavit.

This time, when he made the stop in his unmarked police car, Cenat identified himself as “Officer Martez of the Broward Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Unit” and told the undercover employee posing as the driver that he was under investigation for drug dealing. He told him to hand over the drugs and money, which were stashed in a duffel bag.

After the transaction, Cenat met up with the FBI’s confidential source again to make another split of the drug proceeds at a Walmart parking lot in Coral Springs. Cenat was then arrested. This time, both the seven kilos of sham cocaine and $80,000 in $100 bills were found in the duffel bag inside his police-issued vehicle.