'BISHOP' POLICE BUFF HAS A FELONIOUS PAST

"Bishop" Fernando Rodriguez touts himself as the president of the
Latin American Chaplains Association. His Web site is plastered with
photos of him with public officials, including Mayor Bloomberg and
the chief of the NYPD's narcotics division.

But Rodriguez also is a convicted felon under indictment along with
other members of a controversial group of police buffs who illegally
pass themselves off as law enforcement officers, the Daily News learned.

"Let's be realistic, we all have a past and had we known better we
would have done things different," Rodriguez said. "I think I've
worked hard to make up for my mistakes and show that I am not the
person I used to be."

Rodriguez, 34, pleaded guilty in 1998 to scheming to defraud at least
a dozen tenants who gave him deposits for apartments he had no
authority to rent, according to court records.

According to a law enforcement source, he also was busted in 1994 by
the FBI for passing bad checks, although the disposition of that case
is unclear.

Since then, Rodriguez has clearly reinvented himself. He claims 1,000
chaplains across the city are members of his association and that he
is certified by the city's Office of Emergency Management as a
first-responder to disasters.

When Rodriguez was collared Jan. 24 in upper Manhattan, he was
driving with a suspended license, carrying a bogus police badge and
also had a forged California driver's license.

On the dashboard was a red bubble light and a bogus placard issued by
the Kings County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, a
group he joined four years ago.

Members of the controversial group, which is empowered by a 19th
century law to investigate allegations of child abuse, have often
been accused of misrepresenting themselves as law enforcement officers.

"I never drove around acting like a cop," he said. "When I call the
Police Department or the borough command, I am calling on behalf of
the people in my community, not myself."

Last month, the NYPD arrested nine other members of the Kings County
Society for carrying bogus police badges or fraudulent identification.

Prosecutors want the group to plead guilty to charges of issuing fake
badges and parking placards and shut down operations for good. The
case is scheduled to be back in Manhattan Supreme Court tomorrow.