Convicted felon tied to city's exclusive police towing job

Man was busted in fraud case in 2012

SWEETWATER, Fla. – Edwin Rodriguez was paraded before television cameras in 2012 after he allegedly took part in a towing fraud that ripped off drivers and insurance companies alike as he and his co-defendants lived a lavish lifestyle on the proceeds of the scheme.

Rodriguez was convicted of fraud but now the new company he manages has an exclusive client: the Sweetwater Police Department.

The company, AAA Towing & Recovery, was given a no-bid deal earlier this year as the tow company for the police in a deal that was authorized by Mayor Jose Diaz.

Now the city's vice mayor, Orlando Lopez, who is running against Diaz for mayor, said the relationship is illegal because convicted felons aren't allowed to own tow companies in Miami-Dade County and convicted felons shouldn't be towing cars for cops.

"By no government standards can he as a convicted felon tow for a municipal government," said Lopez.

Rodriguez is not the listed owner of the company, but the vice mayor said the person that is listed, Lesbia Maradiaga, is an owner in name only and is Rodriguez's mother, something Rodriguez denies.

"I'm not stealing cars," said Rodriguez. "We're doing calls, simple calls."

Rodriguez is listed as an employee in the company's application to the city yet the firm denied in writing that it had any convicted felons in its employ.

At the Nov. 3 city commission meeting Lopez raised his concerns about Rodriguez's ties to the company and pushed for a resolution to cut ties with the company and put the job out to a proper bid. Diaz defended the company at the meeting.

"They went through all the screening," said the mayor, later adding, "(Edwin Rodriguez) is a supervisor but the company doesn't belong to him."

"I know," countered Lopez. "It's under his mother's name."

Rodriguez initially denied in an interview that he was a convicted felon at all, but after acknowledging it said he's not unique in his industry, claiming that if convicted felons were purged from the wrecker business "you're going to have to close every single towing company from the biggest to the smallest."

Despite the mayor's objections, the commission passed a resolution at the November 3 meeting to immediately cut ties with Triple A Towing and to put the contract out to bid. But the city to date is still using AAA Towing & Recovery.

"The mayor and the police department have completely ignored this," said Lopez.

City police stress that the number of police tows in the city has gone down dramatically this year since AAA Towing & Recovery was given the business.

TUESDAY NIGHT: Watch Bob Norman's exclusive interview with Mayor Jose Diaz on this topic and watch as he walks out on the interview.

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