Sketch from a custodial hearing for two men accused of impersonating Ariane Teherzadeh, DHS agents.
Source: Bill Hennessy
A judge on Tuesday granted bail to two Washington, D.C., men criminally charged with impersonating federal law enforcement agents.
During a hearing in US District Court in Washington, prosecutors said they could appeal Judge Michael Harvey’s decision to release Haider Ali and Ariane Tehrzadeh.
Harvey said the men jailed since their arrest last week could be released into the custody of relatives living in the Washington area, and would be confined to those residences, and the global situation monitored by satellite equipment.
Harvey put his decision on hold until 9 a.m. Wednesday, to give prosecutors time to decide whether to appeal his bail decision.
Prosecutors, who said that people who defrauded Secret Service agents and others with their claims to be Department of Homeland Security agents, had told Harvey to leave both men pending their trial, calling them a threat to the public.
Filing by the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia in US District Court in Washington, DC
Courtesy: US Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia
Prosecutors have said a cache of weapons and police equipment was found in an apartment built by the men, who lent the two expensive apartments to two Secret Service agents. He also called Ali a flight risk given his travel history to Pakistan and Iran.
Prosecutors said that while the men were claiming to have engaged in covert operations for the DHS, “they compromised United States Secret Service (USSS) personnel into protective detail and gifted them with access to White House premises.” , including rent-free sustenance.”
But Harvey said the case does not meet the standards for denying bail to the defendants, especially since none of the men have been charged with the crime of violence.
“In a case like this, release should be the norm,” Harvey said.
“It is not an offense of violence. It is a felony, but it is a felony with a maximum term of three years’ imprisonment.”
The judge also said that if both are convicted of the offence, the sentencing guidelines will only recommend a jail term of zero to six months, the minimum possible limit for imprisonment under those guidelines.
Four Secret Service agents who contacted these people have been placed on administrative leave.
Among the witnesses against the men are Secret Service agents who were assigned the protective details of first lady Jill Biden and the White House.
