Veronika Celeste Rodriguez 

By Jillian Pikora From Daily Voice

A Dauphin County woman at the center of a viral controversy has been sentenced to jail after being convicted of felony wiretap violations and lying to police about being raped, the Lebanon County District Attorney’s Office announced on Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025.

Veronika Rodriguez, 24, of Middletown, was convicted by a jury in May of two felony violations of Pennsylvania’s Wiretap Act and one count of false reports to law enforcement. On Wednesday, Judge Charles T. Jones Jr. sentenced her to 30 days to two years less one day in the Lebanon County Correctional Facility.

The Allegation

Rodriguez first came forward on Jan. 11, 2023, telling Fort Indiantown Gap police that fellow Air National Guard member and military doctor, Major Fahad Pervez, had raped her in his car three nights earlier. She claimed he withheld her glasses and forced her into sex in the rear seat of his vehicle on restricted property.

An affidavit of probable cause shows Rodriguez admitted she recorded part of the encounter on her phone, which she voluntarily surrendered for forensic extraction. Police discovered a multi-hour recording of her evening with Pervez, starting from dinner and continuing through their sexual encounter. Investigators also uncovered text messages where Rodriguez flirted with Pervez, sent him nude photos, and bragged to friends that she was “horny,” had “soaked through her yoga pants,” and rated the sex a “three.”

She also texted friends that she could “ignore her morals for one night” and suggested she and Pervez could have “birthday sex” at her next military drill weekend.

She Lied, Prosecutors Say

Investigators concluded the encounter was consensual and that Rodriguez lied about rape after being confronted by a military superior for “fraternization,” a disciplinary offense that could have led to her termination from the Guard.

“She then manipulated the secret recording to try and make it appear as a rape,” DA Pier Hess Graf said. “A full review of the Defendant’s cell phone’s evidence was damning and proved otherwise.”

Viral Outcry

The case drew international attention after TikTok videos using #JusticeForVeronika went viral, gaining more than 30 million views. A Change.org petition called for accountability and a GoFundMe campaign raised over $20,000 to support Rodriguez’s legal defense.

Supporters claimed she was being punished for speaking up. But prosecutors insisted she weaponized the system against an innocent man.

DA’s Sentencing Statement

The evidence left no doubt, Graf said. “All of the members of law enforcement and the public who actually saw the evidence, who actually heard the testimony, and who actually had to endure listening to 60 minutes of a sexual encounter, all came to the same conclusion – that Veronika Rodriguez was not sexually assaulted, that Veronika Rodriguez had lied to law enforcement”.

She added that Rodriguez “ruined the military career and reputation of Fahad Pervez,” who resigned from the Guard, lost his pension, and continues to suffer harassment as a result of the accusations.

“This case should not discourage actual victims of sexual violence from coming forward and reporting,” Graf said. “The Defendant’s actions make every actual report of sexual violence more difficult for those victims and she should be fully ashamed of herself every day hereafter.”