Former PSLPD State Deputy William Vega pleads guilty to felony assault

STEWART. Former Port St. Lucie Assistant Police Chief William Vega Jr. pleaded guilty Wednesday to a felony in connection with what the Florida Department of Law Enforcement described last year as “ record falsification scheme allow high school athletes to attend and compete for schools outside of their home state.”

In September 2023, William Vega, 52, was an assistant police chief when he was charged with aiding and abetting facilitate rental and identity fraud to three parents who took advantage of it to improperly meet requirements that allowed their children to enroll at Martin County High School and play football, FDLE and court records show.

A total of eight people — including Vega’s brother and sister-in-law, veteran police sergeant. Robert Vega, 49, and Nixalis Vega, 47, were arrested on numerous felony and misdemeanor charges.

Robert Vega has since been on unpaid administrative leave from the Port St. Lucie Police Department, said spokesman Sgt. – said Dominique Mesiti.

Both Nixalis Vega and William Vega decided to avoid trial Wednesday by agreeing to plea deals with state prosecutors.

Change of plea

Robert Vega watched from the back of the courtroom as William Vega answered a series of brief questions from District Judge William Roby, who approved a plea deal in which William Vega would serve one year of probation and pay the FDLE $39,404 in investigative costs. case.

The terms of the guilty plea require William Vega to also relinquish his law enforcement officer certification.

“I understand you want to plead guilty now… is that correct?” Roby asked Vega.

“Yes, your honor,” he replied, standing on the podium in a light gray suit.

“And you’re doing it because you’re guilty, aren’t you?” Roby clicked.

“Yes, sir,” Vega said.

Specifically, William Vega pleaded guilty to attempted perjury by false declaration, a first-degree misdemeanor, having originally been charged with third-degree felony perjury by false declaration.

In exchange, the state dropped 10 charges, including three counts of criminal use of personal identification and three counts of grand theft.

Roby then approved a plea deal for Nixalis Vega in which she pleaded no contest to attempted driver’s license fraud, a lesser offense than driver’s license fraud.

She also pleaded no contest to one count of perjury, perjury.

Roby pleaded not guilty, meaning Nixalis Vega will have no convictions, and he ordered her to serve one year of probation. She must also pay $420 in court costs.

When the court adjourned, William Vega, Robert Vega and Nixalis Vega immediately left without comment.

She and her husband, Robert Vega, were accused of trying to enroll their son through the Martin County School District, records show. The teenager entered Martin County High School as a freshman and was a backup defensive back. He played defensive back in several games of the season beginning in the fall of 2022. He then attended a private school in Palm Beach County.

After the trial, Assistant State’s Attorney David Lustgarten said the agreed pleas came after a “careful review and analysis of the facts” uncovered by the FDLE investigation.

“There were some issues with the evidence that came out of the testimony. The other issue on our end is that Martin County schools are open now as far as I know,” Lustgarten said.

“That means none of that would have to be done today for parents … to get their kids into, in their minds, the best schools, and whatever reason they wanted their kids to attend high school, other than the football team. .”

Also, prosecutors didn’t want to potentially pit parents against their children as witnesses at trial, he said.

“Our analysis, given the nature of the allegations, is that we didn’t want to put them in that position,” Lustgarten said.

He also noted the investigation and the charges cost William Veza his job with the Port St. Lucie Police in May 2023.

“Unlike the rest of the parents… he lost his job. And when I say ‘lose his job,’ he would have been fired from his staff position, and as a result, he resigned,” Lustgarten said. “This resignation was obviously a pretty serious punishment for him.”

Lustgarten said he expects similar deals to be reached with the other parents charged in the case: Jeron Atwater, 42, and Gilnar Centelus, 41, both of Port St. Lucie; and Lisa Stone, 48, of Fort Pierce. All face charges including driver’s license tampering, perjury, perjury by false written statement and grand larceny.

“Other co-defendants, I suspect, will be filing notices of plea changes of a similar nature to the one Ms. Vega received today,” he said.

Lustgarten was more circumspect when discussing the Robert Vega case.

“I’m still doing further analysis of his situation and … I suspect he will be the last of the co-defendants,” he said, “and we’ll see where we end up over time.”

After the trial, Scott Richardson said William Vega, who also received permission from Roby to work outside the United States, was “very pleased with the way this case was resolved.”

“He’s able to put it behind him and move on, which is always the goal,” Richardson said.

Jerome Stone, who represents Nixalis Vega, said none of the defendants in the case benefited financially from the actions alleged by the FDLE.

“Everything involved in this case involved kids participating in an athletic program that was legal in all other schools in the county and throughout the county except for Martin County High School,” Stone said. “She did what she thought was appropriate under the circumstances to allow her child to play and participate in the Martin County High School program. Because what she did could have been done anywhere.”

Nixalis Vega also lost her job, he said.

“While this case was pending,” Stone said, “it created embarrassment for her, embarrassment for her son, who was at school, and financial hardship for their family as a whole.”

Melissa E. Holsman is a legal reporter for TCPalm and Treasure Coast Newspapers, and is the author and co-host of “Uncertain conditionstrue crime podcast. Contact her at [email protected]. If you subscribed, thank you. if not become a subscriber for the latest local news on the Treasure Coast.