Gavel

Federal prosecutors say a former Dunwoody police detective has pleaded guilty in a kickback scheme involving a confidential informant.

Authorities say 64-year-old Robert Pasquale Bentivegna of Woodstock began using a confidential informant in 2011 who was involved in illegal activity. Prosecutors say Bentivegna began executing fraudulent warrant checks and telling the informant about active arrest warrants against them in exchange for airline tickets to New York and cars for his son and daughter.

Prosecutors say the information Bentivegna gave to the informant was held in the Georgia Crime Information Center database and could help criminals flee investigators.

In a release, the FBI characterized the crime as a "betrayal of the badge".

Authorities say Bentivegna's sentence is scheduled for June 1.

Tags: Robert Pasquale Bentivegna, Dunwoody police detective admits to kickback scheme, ex dunwoody police detective involving informant