Florida police sergeant resigns after investigation into high school sports scheme

According to a USA Today report, Port St. Lucie Police sergeant Robert Vega stepped down from his position after an internal investigation determined that the veteran law enforcement officer was part of a scheme to fabricate records to allow high school football players to attend and compete for schools outside of their residential boundaries.

Vega’s brother, William, who was formerly the assistant police chief, was also named in the internal investigation conducted by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Both were volunteer assistant coaches at Martin County High School.

Per the report, an anonymous complaint was sent in back in Oct. 2022, alleging that the Vega brothers had used former Port St. Lucie police officers and homeowners from Martin County “to fraudulently claim the students lived in the Martin County School District … when they did not.”  The scheme’s overall goal was to recruit, bring players from outside of Martin County into playing for the Tigers’ football program.

The investigation, per the report, had also found that Robert Vega’s police issued computers, cell phone were used for “extensive use of the police department’s e-mail and internet services for non-official police business.”

Instances of that use included his police-issued cellphone being used on the grounds of Martin County’s athletic fields during work hours that also matched when the football team was practicing. Robert Vega said to investigators that his bosses knew of his volunteer coaching activity and that superiors always knew where he was.

“Robert Vega’s claim that it was acceptable to be coaching in Martin County while being paid and on duty is not in alignment with established written directives and regulations,” the report said from the records from the investigation.

Robert Vega resigned in May, while his brother resigned during the initial investigation.

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