A Miami, Florida man pleaded guilty to conducting a criminal enterprise Friday in Midland County Circuit Court in connection with stealing rent money between 2019 and 2022 in Midland and three other counties.
Juan Miguel Rodriguez-Venegas, 55, stole money orders, checks and cash out of drop boxes at apartment complexes and mobile home parks. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said Friday in a press release that part of Rodriguez-Venegas’s plea includes paying $36,235 in restitution.
Rodriguez-Venegas is jailed and is set for sentencing on Sept. 26 in Midland County Circuit Court before Judge Stephen Carras.
Between 2019 and 2022, Rodriguez-Venegas and Rafael Rodriguez, 43, targeted drop boxes at apartment complexes and mobile home parks in Bay, Midland, Oakland, and Saginaw counties to steal money orders and cash, said Midland County Prosecutor J. Dee Brooks.
Rodriguez, who is also jailed, is charged with conducting a criminal enterprise, six counts of larceny in a building and a count of possession of burglar’s tools. He is set for a plea at 9 a.m. Aug. 30 before Midland County Circuit Court Judge Michael Beale.
Midland Police Department Public Relations Officer Brennon Warren said the two suspects pocketed the cash and cashed the rent checks and money orders stolen from the drop boxes. He said the thefts involved thousands of dollars and affected five apartment buildings in Midland. Warren said the pair used tools to get into the drop boxes and took the envelopes.
Nessel said in a press release, “Hardworking Michiganders deserve peace of mind knowing their rent payments are safe. I am grateful for our partnership with Midland County Prosecuting Attorney J. Dee Brooks, whose office initially filed these charges, and the efforts of all involved to make possible this conviction and restitution to the victims of these thefts.”
Brooks said his office filed joint charges with the Department of Attorney General against Rodriguez-Venegas in March because the case involved multiple jurisdictions. Rodriguez-Venegas was charged with one count of conducting a criminal enterprise, six counts of larceny in a building, and one count of possession of burglar’s tools.
“I again want to thank Det. Mark Stefaniak of the Midland Police Department, Assistant Midland County Prosecutor Courtney Driscoll and M. Elizabeth Lippitt of the State Attorney General’s Office, for their hard work and dedication in helping us to identify and bring to justice one of the defendants involved in this multiple jurisdictional criminal enterprise,” Brooks said. “This case serves as a great example of what we can accomplish when we work together to hold even out of state perpetrators responsible for their criminal acts in Michigan.”
Tereasa Nims is a cops and courts reporter with the Midland Daily News. She can be reached at Tereasa.Nims@hearstnp.com.
