VALDOSTA. GA. (WTXL) — A former Air Force Airman pleaded guilty on Tuesday to two counts of impersonating an officer after he pretended to be a federal agent at various times.
Those impersonations included making a traffic stop, offering to solve a crime and appearing at crime scene investigations armed while claiming to be an agent, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Marlon De’Adrain Priest, 23, of Valdosta, pleaded guilty to two counts of impersonating an officer and an employee of the United States.
According to court documents, an agent with Moody Air Force Base (MAFB) Office of Special Investigations (OSI) contacted the FBI in September 2020 regarding Priest, a former Air Force Airman, who was impersonating an OSI Agent in the Valdosta area.
The Remerton Police Department (RPD) had reported to MAFB OSI that Priest had appeared at crime scenes on multiple occasions representing himself as an OSI agent and even arrived at one crime scene carrying an AR-15 rifle and wearing a bulletproof vest.
The white sedan Priest was driving had police lights. RPD had recordings of Priest at crime scenes impersonating a federal officer.
Priest had been discharged from the Air Force in Feb. 2019, for misuse of a military credit card, the DOJ said.
In addition, Priest made a traffic stop on April 9, 2020, identifying himself as an undercover federal agent at Moody Air Force Base.
The victim driving the car told authorities that Priest was armed, was wearing a bulletproof vest and that Priest’s vehicle had police lights with a public announcement (PA) system to give the victim orders during the incident.
Priest called the stop in to 911, reporting himself as an undercover MAFB agent. Bodycam footage from the scene showed Priest was armed.
In October 2020, Priest impersonated an FBI agent, telling a fraud victim that Priest was an FBI agent who could help her start a case if she paid him $85, documents showed.
The victim gave him $85 and days later Priest accused the victim of lying to him about the case and threatened to press charges against her for her “criminal intent and fraudulent misconduct.”
Priest told the victim that she had made false statements and that he put his name on the line and gave her a discount with the courts to open the case, investigators found.
According to the DOJ, Priest then told the victim he had to pay a $150 fine and threatened the victim that warrants were going to be taken out for her. The victim paid Priest the $150 demand.
Priest faces a maximum of three years in prison to be followed by one year of supervised release and a $250,000 fine per count. Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 20, 2022.
