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The convictions of Timothy Rehak and Mark Naylon came in federal court after five hours of deliberations.
“By their corrupt actions, Timothy Rehak and Mark Naylon violated the trust placed in them by the people of the State of Minnesota,” said U.S. Attorney Frank J. Magill. “They went from enforcing the law to breaking the law. The jury correctly held them accountable for their illegal actions.”
The men, both 48, were each convicted on one count of theft of government funds, and one count of conspiracy to violate the civil rights of Minnesotans. They were acquitted of four wire fraud charges.
Rehak and Naylon faced the charges for a November 2004 incident in which they searched a motel room in which the FBI had planted $13,500 in supposed drug money to conduct an “integrity test” on the two men.
The FBI recorded the entire search of the hotel room, and the videotape was presented to the jury.
The men admitted taking some of the money during the search, but insisted they were playing a joke on a third officer. They were indicted in March.
Rehak is a former St. Paul police officer who was working for the sheriff’s office. Naylon was the office’s public information officer, but is not a peace officer. The men are close friends of Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher. Naylon was the best man at his recent second wedding.
After the verdict was read on Wednesday both men resigned from their positions with Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office. Their employment was terminated immediately.
Both face a maximum potential penalty of 10 years on the theft count and 10 years on the conspiracy count. They will be sentenced later.
Naylon and Rehak were subjects of FBI “integrity tests” in 2004 and 2005, in which the FBI planted supposed drug money to see what the men would do with it. U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz dismissed two counts stemming from the second test, but kept the charges related to the first test, which took place at the Best Western Kelly Inn in St. Paul.
Prosecutors say a convicted meth dealer working with the FBI called Rehak and told him a fictitious drug dealer named “Vinnie” had left drugs and money at a hotel room, but had been arrested in Wisconsin and wanted someone to get his stuff.
Rehak and Naylon went to the hotel with their supervisor, Sgt. Rolland Martinez, who had a search warrant. The three found a bag of money and some drug residue and dumped it on one of the beds.
In the video, while Martinez is in the bathroom, Naylon can be seen pointing at the money. Rehak gives a roll of bills, containing $6,000, to Naylon, who puts it in his jacket pocket.
The FBI had placed $13,500 in the bag. But Martinez, who was not a target of the integrity test, counted only $7,500 and wrote that amount on the search warrant receipt.
Rehak and Naylon say Naylon took the money to play a practical joke on Martinez, with Naylon planning to hide the roll of bills and force Martinez to return to the room later to retrieve it. Rehak testified in court that when Naylon couldn’t find a place to hide the money, he took it with him.
Martinez testified that the pair told him later that they’d found $6,000 in a mattress or a box spring. So the three went back to the hotel room. Rehak changed the copy of the search warrant receipt which said $7,500 by writing a “1” in front of the “7” and changing the “7” to a “3.” The sloppy receipt — still signed only by Martinez — now read that $13,500 had been recovered.
Rehak maintained his police report was accurate — minus details about the practical joke. He says there was no intent to keep the money.
