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Two men accused of impersonating federal agents to be released
Tuesday Magistrate Judge Michael G. Harvey denied the government’s request to hold the two suspects charged with impersonating federal officers behind bars until their trial.
WASHINGTON - Magistrate Judge Michael G. Harvey on Tuesday denied the government’s request to hold the two suspects charged with impersonating federal officers behind bars until their trial.
Judge Harvey made clear that he did not believe the claim that 35-year-old Haider Ali had ties to a Pakistani intelligence agency and that the U.S. Attorney’s Office has not provided any proof of foreign government involvement or proof that sensitive information had been shared with the gifts allegedly given to U.S. Secret Service Agents.
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The judge called the suspect’s actions "sophomoric" but also referred to the government’s concerns as "overblown."
The U.S. Attorney’s office will get a chance to appeal the detention decision at a 9 a.m. Wednesday hearing. Otherwise, the two suspects will be released to their fathers under GPS monitoring with certain requirements.
At the Taherzadeh family home in Sterling, Virgina, a man answered the doorbell camera saying, "It is a right home. Thank you, you have a pleasant day." No other questions were answered.
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A woman who answered the Ali family home in Springfield, Virginia identified herself as the suspect’s mother-in-law. She told FOX 5 in Spanish Ali was innocent. When asked why she believes so, she said the family has no money telling FOX 5 Ali’s wife couldn’t even pay for the Uber to take her to an appointment.
Prosecutors said Tuesday that two men facing charges for allegedly posing as federal agents were inadvertently tipped off about the federal investigation into their activities by an investigator at the U.S. Secret Service.
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Arian Taherzadeh and Haider Ali figured out they were under investigation, government lawyers said, when the Secret Service investigator reached out to Taherzadeh's business email about an "internal investigation" at the Secret Service.
Attorneys told Magistrate Judge G. Michael Harvey during a detention hearing on Tuesday that the slip-up caused the Secret Service to speed up their process and arrest the men earlier than they might have otherwise.
The government accuses the two men of impersonating federal agents, and providing gifts to Secret Service agents, at least one of whom worked on the detail of the first lady. Other agents worked at the vice president’s residence and the White House, according to government prosecutors.
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Government lawyers say both men are flight risks if released. They point to Ali’s travels to Pakistan, Iran, Egypt, and Iraq. They also say he has some kind of status in Pakistan, as he has a Pakistani Visitor ID card. Ali’s lawyer says he is not a citizen of Pakistan and would need the passport already confiscated by the U.S. government to travel outside the country.
Ali’s lawyer said his client would not leave his wife and young children, while lawyers for both men point out this is their first offense, and they would likely only face a few months in prison, and therefore wouldn’t risk fleeing their home country.