A Washington, D.C. man who pretended to be a federal law enforcement officer and rented luxury apartments without paying rent was sentenced Friday to 33 months in prison, federal authorities said.
The man, Arian Taherzadeh, 41, falsely claimed to be a Department of Homeland Security special agent, a former U.S. Air Marshal, a former U.S. Army Ranger and a member of a multi-jurisdictional federal task force, among other false roles, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia said in a press release.
Mr. Taherzadeh and an accomplice, Haider Ali, 36, of Springfield, Va., used the false claims to recruit others to his law enforcement office, which they named United States Special Police LLC and falsely described as a private police service affiliated with the federal government, according to court documents.
Mr. Taherzadeh used false claims to recruit others to join his business and to trick the owners of three D.C.-area apartment complexes into giving him more apartments and parking spaces for alleged law enforcement operations, federal authorities said.
Mr. Taherzadeh also installed surveillance cameras outside and inside his apartment in one of the complexes.
Among other things, he installed, maintained and operated cameras in his bedroom. He used these cameras to record women engaging in sexual activity and showed the explicit videos to third parties, federal prosecutors allege.
Mr. Taherzadeh pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy, a federal misdemeanor, as well as unlawful possession of a high-capacity ammunition feeding device and voyeurism, which are felonies in the District of Columbia, authorities said.
The potential effects of Mr. Taherzadeh’s actions warranted a significant sentence, Matthew Graves, the U.S. attorney, wrote in court documents.
“The defendant’s conduct was sophisticated, and his schemes continued for many years and victimized numerous people and businesses,” said Mr. Graves in an October filing. “His false association with law enforcement, coupled with his inappropriate relationship with the Secret Service, could have caused significant harm, including to our nation’s security.”
Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly of the US District Court for the District of Columbia also ordered Mr. Taherzadeh to repay $706,218 and complete 36 months of supervised release following his prison sentence, the US Attorney’s Office said.
Michelle Peterson, Mr. Taherzadeh’s lawyer, declined to comment Sunday night, but said in a court document: “Mr. Taherzadeh recognizes the seriousness of the offenses he committed and is ready to accept the consequences of his actions.”
Mr. Ali was sentenced in August to 68 months in prison, followed by 36 months of supervised release, and ordered to pay nearly $758,000 in restitution.
The two men ingratiated themselves with US Secret Service employees to make their scheme more credible, prosecutors said.
Mr. Taherzadeh gave the employees gifts, according to the Ministry of Justice. In one instance, he gave a Secret Service employee and his wife a generator and a doomsday backpack.
He provided at least two other employees with rent-free apartments for about a year. One received a penthouse worth approximately $40,200 for rent, and the other an apartment valued at $48,240. Other gifts included a drone and a gun cabinet, according to prosecutors.