SAN FRANCISCO – LAWFUEL – Law News Network – U.S. Attorney Kevin V. Ryan announced that Jeremy Christian Brickner, 30, was indicted on December 7, 2006, on two counts of impersonating an agent of the United States in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 913. Mr. Brickner allegedly misrepresented himself as an immigration agent and arrested three people under color of that misrepresented authority. According to a search warrant affidavit, during one of the arrests, Brickner carried business cards that read “U.S. Immigration and Deportation, Deportation Agent,” and carried a handgun, handcuffs, and a badge shaped like a star. These charges are the result of an investigation by the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
According to the indictment, Mr. Brickner arrested two people on May 11, 2006, and another individual on October 22, 2006. Mr. Brickner advised all three victims that they were subject to arrest pursuant to immigration bonds. He misrepresented himself as an immigration agent to the victims and held them in custody overnight in hotel rooms before turning them in to Immigration and Customs Enforcement in San Francisco on May 12, 2006, and October 23, 2006, respectively. According to the search warrant affidavit, the people he arrested on May 11, 2006, were a mother and her 10-year old daughter.
“Impersonating a federal officer is a crime that will not be tolerated,” said Kelly Corsetti, resident agent in charge of the ICE Office of Professional Responsibility in San Francisco. “We will continue to use all of our investigative authorities to ensure the integrity of our workforce and protect the reputation of our dedicated federal law enforcement officers.”
An arrest warrant was issued for Mr. Brickner and he was arrested pursuant to the warrant on December 8, 2006. Mr. Brickner was in custody from December 8, 2006 until December 15, 2006, when he was released by Magistrate Judge Bernard Zimmerman on $100,000 bond, and on the conditions that he be subject to warrantless search and seizure, that he no longer act as a bounty hunter, and that he not possess any firearms. Brickner is scheduled to be in court again before the Honorable Charles R. Breyer, United States District Court Judge, on December 20, 2006, at 2:15 p.m. for his initial appearance in district court.
The maximum statutory penalty for each count of impersonating a federal agent, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 913, is three years in prison, one year of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000. However, any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the court after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553.
An indictment contains only allegations against an individual and, as with all defendants, Mr. Brickner must be presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Jeff Finigan is the Assistant U.S. Attorney prosecuting the case with the assistance of Rawaty Yim.
Further Information:
A copy of this press release may be found on the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s website at www.usdoj.gov/usao/can.
Electronic court filings and further procedural and docket information are available at https://ecf.cand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.
Judges’ calendars with schedules for upcoming court hearings can be viewed on the court’s website at www.cand.uscourts.gov.
All press inquiries to the U.S. Attorney’s Office should be directed to Luke Macaulay at (415) 436-6757 or by email at Luke.Macaulay@usdoj.gov.
