By Sarah N. Lynch
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A man who posed as a federal law enforcement agent and lavished gifts on members of the U.S. Secret Service pleaded guilty on Monday to conspiracy and other charges, and agreed to cooperate with the Justice Department’s ongoing investigation.
Arian “Ari” Taherzadeh, 40, pleaded guilty to conspiracy, as well as unlawful possession of a large-capacity ammunition feeding device and voyeurism.
As part of his plea, he conceded that he, his co-defendant Haider Ali, and an unnamed other subject conspired to recruit people to participate in a phony Department of Homeland Security task force.
They also defrauded local apartment complexes by pretending to be law enforcement and used a fraudulent affiliation with DHS to “ingratiate themselves with members of federal law
enforcement,” court records say.
Taherzadeh and Ali were arrested on April 6, prompting the Secret Service to place four agents on leave pending an investigation because they had accepted gifts. One of the agents who was placed on leave was assigned to protect first lady Jill Biden.
The types of gifts they offered the agents ranged from rent-free apartments in a Washington luxury complex, to drones, iPhones and firearms.
In court filings, the government said they doled out gifts worth over $90,000.
When the FBI raided properties associated with the men, it recovered so many weapons, surveillance equipment, hard drives and other evidence that it needed a moving truck to haul it all away.
Before Taherzadeh began impersonating a federal law enforcement agent, he told people he was a wealthy owner of an internet hosting company.
Court records show he racked up more than $1 million in debt for unpaid rent from apartment complexes, luxury cars, VIP box seats at Capital One Arena, and a sponsorship deal with the company that owns several of Washington’s professional sports teams.
His next court date will be Nov. 2. A sentencing date has not been set.
(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch in Washington; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
