A man accused of posing as a member of the U.S. Secret Service and lavishing gifts on federal agents in a D.C. luxury high-rise signals that he will plead guilty. The Washington Post:
Arian Taherzadeh is facing charges including impersonating a federal law enforcement official. A change-of-plea hearing for him is scheduled for Aug. 1, according to a docket entry in federal court. A plea is not final until it has been accepted by a judge, and Taherzadeh could change his mind at any time until then.
[...] In April, a federal grand jury indicted Taherzadeh and a man named Haider Ali after an investigation uncovered what investigators say was a ruse carried out at the Crossing, a luxury apartment complex on the D.C. waterfront. Prosecutors accused the men of falsely claiming affiliation with the Department of Homeland Security and ingratiating themselves with members of the Secret Service assigned to protect the White House and first lady Jill Biden.
Taherzadeh and Ali initially pleaded not guilty. Their defense attorneys in hearings and court filings denied the existence of a plot to infiltrate the Secret Service, saying that Taherzadeh acted out of a “desire for friendship” and that Ali believed he was working for a legitimate security company.
Something changed, we don't know what. And we still don't know about why these men were really doing this. What about the rumors that they are Pakistan intelligence? Are they really just Secret Service groupies?
