Oregon Woman Tricked Into Believing She Was A DEA Agent-In-Training For Over A Year
The woman is not facing any criminal charges.
heliopix / Shutterstock A woman in Oregon believed she had been training to be a Drug Enforcement Adminstration agent, realizing she had been tricked for over a year by a man pretending to be her supervisor, according to a criminal complaint filed.
The man, identified as Robert Edward Golden, 41, was charged with impersonating a federal agent after police in Portland contacted the Drug Enforcement Agency.
The man was allegedly posing as a DEA special agent and conducting fake training.
Federal prosecutors alleged that Golden convinced the unidentified woman that she was "training to be a DEA agent."
Golden allegedly used false credentials to gain information from residents and installed red-and-blue emergency lighting into his car to navigate traffic.
Golden also kept a tactical vest secured with 'DEA Police' patches, two body-armor-plate carriers, handcuffs, badges, and an AR-15 style rifle that was actually a BB gun, according to an affidavit from DEA special agent, Morgan T. Barr.
He also told authorities that him and the woman were "into cosplay," and that was the reason he had all of the DEA equipment. He reportedly went on to reveal that he had bought the fake badges and credentials from various websites, including Amazong, eBay, and Wish.
Authorities first discovered Golden and the woman on February 1, after a police sergeant noticed on the vests in the open trunk of Golden's car and approached them.
The officer asked Golden if he was a federal agent, to which Golden responded that he and the woman were both "Feds" working in Portland.
Golden asked the woman to show the officer her fake badge, which is when the officer detained them, transferring them to DEA investigators, where Golden admitted to the credentials being fake.
In addition with providing the woman with a fake DEA badge, Golden also took her on nightly fake ride-alongs for "surveillance purposes" and also to practice shooting.
The unidentified "trainee," who wasn't charged, told authorities that Golden had given her a DEA badge and photo ID, and had been training with him for over a year while also attending school for criminal justice.
The woman also told authorities that Golden would often speak of other DEA agents named Anderson, Luis, Garcia, and Bennett, that she would be training with soon.
However, there weren't any agents on the force by those names, and the agency doesn't provide "ride-alongs," according to the DEA agent that filed the complaint.
“I believe Golden has been falsely personating a DEA agent to gain credibility as a federal agent by displaying false identification and badges to gain information from unsuspecting residents, and utilizing red and blue code-3 lighting to traverse through traffic,” Morgan T Barr wrote in the affidavit.
Golden has since been released and is awaiting trial, if convicted he could face up to three years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000.
Nia Tipton is a writer living in Brooklyn. She covers pop culture, social justice issues, and trending topics. Follow her on Instagram.