Washington Man Sentenced for Impersonating Federal Law
Enforcement Officers and Other Multiple Fraud Charges

St. Louis, MO: Bill Anthony Jakob was sentenced to five years in prison on multiple counts involving his impersonation of law enforcement officers, and posing as a contracting officer for the U.S. Corps of Engineers, United States Attorney Catherine L. Hanaway announced today.

“During several arrests, Jakob was armed and actually placed people in handcuffs,” said Hanaway. “People who impersonate officers and put our citizens at risk will be prosecuted and held accountable for their actions.”

In addition to his prison sentence, Jakob was ordered to pay restitution of $30,000 to Total Lock & Security Company, and a $2300 Special Assessment. Following his term of imprisonment, he will be on supervised release for three years.

The first four counts of the plea agreement detailed how Jakob posed as a contracting officer for the U.S. Corps of Engineers while he was employed at the Total Lock & Security Company. Total Lock & Security Company, located in Maryland Heights, MO, sells doors and locksets to commercial customers and United States government agencies. During January 2007, Jakob was hired as a dispatcher for Total Lock & Security, and was promoted in April to salesperson, with a primary focus on military and other government agency sales, until his termination in January 2008.

Between July 2007 and January 2008, Jakob falsely represented to Total Lock that he had negotiated three separate contracts for electronic locksets to the United States Army Corps of Engineers. Jakob established an e-mail account which falsely represented to be a true e-mail address for the purported Corps of Engineers contracting officers relative to the sham lockset sale. Jakob made up two names of purported Corps of Engineers contracting officers, who were actually Jakob.

Based upon Jakob’s false representations Total Lock believed it was entering into several contracts with the Corps of Engineers valued at approximately $500,000. Further, because of these false contracts Total Lock had to purchase these specialized locksets from its own supplier to fill the sham contracts with Corp of Engineers.

Jakob also pled guilty to 13 counts involving his false impersonation of three different federal officers. On separate occasions during April 2008, Jakob represented himself as either an officer and employee of the United States Drug Enforcement Agency, an agent of the United States Department of Justice Multi Jurisdictional Narcotics Task Force or as a United States Marshal, and participated in multiple arrests and residential searches in the Gerald, Missouri area. The residential searches occurred on North Bernhardt, Gerald, MO; 600 block of South Main Street, Gerald, MO; 7400 block of Antioch Road, Franklin County, MO; 900 block of S. Old Potosi Road, Gerald, MO; 400 block of East Canaan Road, Gerald, MO; 300 block of West 6 th Street, Gerald, MO; and on Pear Tree, Gerald, MO.

Finally, Jakob admitted that he denied that he posed as an agent of the United States Department of Justice Multi Jurisdictional Narcotics Task Force when questioned by the FBI in May 2008.

JAKOB, 36, Washington, MO, pled guilty in September, to one felony count of wire fraud, one felony count of mail fraud, two felony counts of false impersonation, eighteen felony counts of false impersonation in making arrests and residential searches, and one felony count of making false statements to the FBI. He appeared for sentencing today before United States District Judge Rodney W. Sippel.

Hanaway commended the work on the case by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department, the Franklin County Prosecuting Attorney, Defense Criminal Investigative Service, the Missouri State Highway Patrol; and Assistant United States Attorney Hal Goldsmith, who handled the case for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

 

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