SANFORD, Fla. — An Orange County Sheriff's deputy — who was arrested in Seminole County on April 14 after being accused of using his status as a law enforcement officer to access and share information illegally in a fatal carjacking case — bonded out of jail.
Just after 9:30 p.m. Orange County Deputy Francisco Estrella bonded out of jail. According to jail records he posted bond for the 5 charges he’s facing totaling $15,000. He didn’t answer any questions as he exited the facility and got into the car waiting outside. @MyNews13 pic.twitter.com/c269Vl2tM9
— Massiel Leyva (@LeyvaMassiel) April 19, 2024
Deputy Francisco Estrella, 23, was being held at the Seminole County Jail in lieu of bonds totaling $15,000 before he bonded out Thursday.
According to court documents, he has been charged with:
- Eavesdropping via illegal interception of a communication
- Invasion of privacy via illegal disclosure of a communication
- Obstructing a criminal investigation by a public servant
- Access to a computer or electronic device without authority
- Using a two-way communication device to facilitate a felony
He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
According to an arrest affidavit in the case, Estrella contacted an investigator in the case of 31-year-old Katherine Altagracia Guerrero De Aguasvivas, who was carjacked in Winter Springs and later found shot to death inside a burning vehicle.
Estrella allegedly identified himself as an Orange County Sheriff's Office deputy named Francisco Archuela and Guerrero De Aguasvivas' cousin.
The affidavit says the call came about four hours after Guerrero De Aguasvivas was found dead in a rural area of Osceola County.
The detective reported that she received a second call from Francisco Archuela the next day about the investigation.
It wasn't until Guerrero De Aguasvivas' husband went into the Seminole County Sheriff's Office and allowed investigators to look through his phone that the name given to the detective was found to be false and the man on the phone was actually Estrella, the affidavit said.
Also discovered in the phone was a recording of the conversation between the detective and Estrella when he was allegedly using a pseudonym.
Investigators reported finding information in the husband's phone that showed the Orange County deputy had improperly used the Driver and Vehicle Information Database (D.A.V.I.D.) to look up the detective, the affidavit said.
The search of Guerrero De Aguasvivas' husband's phone also showed that Estrella had allegedly sent the man a photograph of the detective's driver's license profile, which included her photo, driver's license number and full legal name.
Seminole County investigators reported that the Orange County Sheriff's Office confirmed that Estrella's D.A.V.I.D. account had been used to look up information on the detective, and Guerrero De Aguasvivas.
According to court documents, Estrella — who was hired by the Orange County Sheriff's Office in September 2022 — was a correctional officer at Riker's Island Correctional Institute in New York for five years before moving to Central Florida.
Per the conditions of his release, Estrella was to be fitted with an electronic monitoring device.
Estrella is scheduled to be arraigned on June 4 at 1:30 p.m. in Seminole County Curcuit Court.