Impostor suspects released on bond

Ruse detailed for befriending agents

WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Tuesday ordered two men accused of posing as federal law enforcement released pending trial, ending a dayslong detention hearing that unearthed details about an alleged ruse to befriend federal officers from an apartment complex in D.C.

“The federal government has proffered zero evidence the defendants intended to infiltrate the Secret Service for a nefarious purpose, or even that they specifically targeted the Secret Service,” said U.S. Magistrate Judge G. Michael Harvey. “At this point, there has been no showing that national security information was in fact compromised.”

Harvey released the men to each of their fathers under high-intensity supervision and ordered that they stay away from their former apartment building, all airports and embassies, and each other.

Explaining his decision, the judge said the men had been cooperating with the FBI, had limited criminal history and were not at serious risk of flight, referring to their local family ties. He also cited the relatively modest sentencing guidelines that come with the charges to explain his decision to avoid detention.

Arian Taherzadeh, 40, and Haider Ali, 35, each face charges of impersonating federal law enforcement. If convicted as charged, they could face up to three years in prison, but more typically zero to six months in jail under federal guidelines.

The men will not be released until 9 a.m. Wednesday.

Earlier Tuesday, U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Rothstein said for the first time that his office is “investigating whether or not any bribery occurred.” He said the men could have compromised agents who protected first lady Jill Biden and the White House.

Rothstein also said that the men befriended not just Secret Service agents and officers but other federal law enforcement and defense personnel, including another Department of Homeland Security employee, a Navy intelligence officer and a former Marine who said he was recruited by them to join their business.

“We had agents going door to door in their apartment building trying to figure out what the extent of the compromise is,” Rothstein said. “That tells you the extent of the seriousness the government is taking this with.”

In the internal investigation, a Secret Service employee contacted Taherzadeh’s company by email and informed him that the agency was conducting “some sort of review.” That correspondence tipped off the defendant, Rothstein said, and spurred the FBI to act quickly. They arrested the men at a restaurant at lunchtime on April 6 while they were meeting with an attorney.

That day, the FBI also searched their luxury apartment building in the Navy Yard area and found a stash of police weapons, access codes to federal agents’ homes, and equipment to create personal identification verification cards that if programmed correctly can be used to access sensitive law enforcement computers. Prosecutors have also accused Taherzadeh and Ali of obtaining private information from residents of the Crossing, their apartment building.