For five years, a San Diego–area confidential informant worked for Don Rodmel, a San Diego–based federal agent conducting money-laundering investigations.

As part of the job, Rodmel confiscated hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash that the unnamed informant was transporting. But, a problem: Rodmel had been fired by the feds in 2008, a year into his relationship with the confidential informant, according to court records. Now the informant is suing in federal court to recover the money Rodmel confiscated.

Gene Iredale, who represents the informant, declined to comment on the lawsuit. The informant remains unnamed in court documents because of the "very dangerous smuggling organization in Mexico" he worked for, according to court records.

This week, Rodmel's attorney filed the former agent's response to the lawsuit: he can't be sued under the law that protects citizens from police abuse because Rodmel wasn't a cop.

According to the complaint, filed in federal court in October, the informant agreed to work for Homeland Security Investigations, part of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, in 2007. After signing an agreement with an HSI supervisor that promised the informant would be treated fairly, he was assigned to work with Rodmel on a money-laundering investigation. He continued to work with Rodmel for the next five years, as the informant continued to move large amounts of cash from the U.S. to Mexico.

According to court documents, Rodmel "continued to represent himself as a federal criminal investigator and instructed [the informant] to contact suspected money launderers, transport large amounts of currency and to report the details of conversations and events,” presumably at great danger to himself.

Rodmel confiscated many hundreds of thousands of dollars from the informant between 2009 and 2012, the documents say. At Rodmel's sentencing hearing, assistant U.S. attorney Benjamin Holley told the court, "It's the government's belief that the defendant illegally seized a large amount of money, over $1 million, over close to five years….

"The crime committed by Don Rodmel represents a dangerous and long-standing pattern of deception and fraud that placed others at great risk merely for the defendant's own greed," Holley said at the sentencing, noting that Rodmel had promised the informant that the government would protect him and relocate his family if his cooperation was discovered, when Rodmel knew there were no such protections.

For five years, Rodmel would call the informant, urge him to smuggle cash south to Mexico for money-launderers, and on at least four occasions, arranged to stop the informant and seize the cash he carried, according to court records.

People carrying illegally gained currency often have the money seized without facing federal charges because the feds can take the money without proving there was a crime, but they need more evidence to arrest and charge a person.

Attorney Rick Barnett, who specializes in forfeiture cases, says that the informant would go back to the people he was smuggling the cash for empty-handed but with a receipt.

"He would say the cash was seized by the feds and he would have a receipt signed by the agent that explained how much was seized," Barnett said. "The organization would probably be confident it wasn't stolen because they've seen the seizures and paperwork before."

The smugglers probably wouldn't follow up, Barnett said.

"There's usually not much interest in trying to recover the money because they don't want to be identified or answer any questions."

The informant’s activities came to a halt when he was busted by state investigators near Fresno in November 2012. The informant, carrying illicit cash, told investigators that he was working for HSI and Rodmel, according to the lawsuit.

The arresting officers contacted HSI and learned Rodmel had been fired by the federal government in 2008. Following the bust in Fresno, Rodmel was indicted by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California for wire fraud and impersonating a federal officer in April 2013. The informant testified for prosecutors before the grand jury, according to court records.

Rodmel's former employer, ICE, handled the investigation, according to ICE spokeswoman Lauren Mack. "We will move aggressively to investigate and bring to justice those who allegedly betray the public’s trust. Guarding against illegal or unethical behavior is not an option; it’s an obligation we have to the people we serve,” the agency said in a written statement.

Rodmel pleaded guilty to impersonating a federal officer in September 2013; the six other charges, based on calls to the informant that pushed him into action, were dismissed as part of a plea deal. Rodmel was sentenced in June 2014 to five years of probation. He was fined $50,000, according to court records.

But the informant says Rodmel "seized" more than $450,000 from him, and he wants it back. The informant says Rodmel caused him to commit the alleged crime that got him arrested near Fresno — essentially a false arrest because of Rodmel's misrepresentations. And, he's seeking $5 million in punitive damages, according to the complaint.