Arian Taherzadeh update: Washington man pleads guilty to impersonating as Department of Homeland Security

Arian Taherzadeh, the man arrested on charges of impersonating security officials in the Department of Homeland Security, has pleaded guilty to his crimes. Taherzadeh, along with his partner-in-crime, Haider Ali, was arrested following a raid on their Washington D.C. apartment last month.

Forty-year-old Taherzadeh, entered his guilty plea to two District of Columbia offenses—voyeurism and illegal possession of a large-capacity ammunition feeding device. The latter is a federal conspiracy offense in the District of Columbia.

The time of the trial is yet to be set, and the jury will hold a status hearing with him on November 2, 2022.

Taherzadeh has agreed to assist the government's investigation as part of his plea deal. He may face up to 48 months in prison if and when he is sentenced for the charges levied.

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What did Arian Taherzadeh do?

According to the prosecution, Arian Taherzadeh, Haider Ali, and a third, unidentified person deceived federal agents, including Secret Service personnel. The trio did this by courting federal agents with gifts and rent-free residences. The unpain rent and parking fees raked up to more than $800,000 in total.

Arian Taherzadeh duped Secret Service officials in his impersonation scheme (Image via Watchers Blog/Twitter)

Court documents show Taherzadeh promising one agent that he would buy a pricey firearm for him. The agent was on First Lady Jill Biden's security team at the time. The group was evicted from numerous buildings after failing to pay for the luxury apartments they had rented in DC.

Court documents state that Taherzadeh would inform apartment complexes that the government would pay their rent. Then he would blame government bureacracy and even imaginary bosses for unpaid invoices.

Taherzadeh claimed to be an army veteran, pretending to be an army ranger, and at times even an air marshal.

Among his many crimes also involved him recording people in intimate situations without their consent. Taherzadeh accepted setting up a security camera in his bedroom and filming women engaging in private activities without their consent.

The videos were then subsequently distributed to other people. Prosecutors in the case also claim that the men exploited their fictitious identities to obtain security footage from the apartments they were residing in.

Another impersonator implicated in the case, Haider Ali, has pleaded not guilty to all of the accusations contained in his indictment.

The FBI's Washington Field Office and the Department of Homeland Security's Office of the Inspector General are both still looking into the situation. The two parties may face additional charges in the near future.