EX-DEA OFFICIAL PLEADS GUILTY TO FRAUD SCHEME

Former U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration spokesman Garrison Courtney, 44, has pleaded guilty to wire fraud for defrauding at least a dozen firms of over US$4.4 million by posing as a Central Intelligence Agency officer, the Justice Department said.

Courtney told the companies they needed to hire him to create a “commercial cover” masking his supposed CIA affiliation, and that they would be reimbursed, sometimes by the award of lucrative U.S. government contracts. Courtney also duped government officials, prosecutors said, and used them as unwitting props that made him seem more legitimate. A hearing in October will determine his sentence, which could be up to 20 years in prison.