Garrison Courtney
Garrison Kenneth Courtney formerly served as the Chief of Public Affairs for the Drug Enforcement Administration from 2005-2009, an agency of the United States Department of Justice.[1]
Prior to working for the DEA, Courtney was the Seattle District public affairs and community outreach director with the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) for Northern Idaho, Washington and British Columbia. After the INS merged into the United States Department of Homeland Security, Courtney moved to Washington, D.C., serving as a senior spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security.[1][2][3] Courtney also worked for Rep. Katherine Harris (R-Florida), as the Communications Director and Homeland Security Legislative Assistant in 2004.[1][4][5]
Courtney has also worked as a reporter and television weather anchor for CBS affiliates in several states, including KPAX-TV in Missoula, Montana and KVAL-TV in Eugene, Oregon and as a producer for TMZ TV.[6] Courtney is an Army veteran, and is a graduate of the Broadcast Journalism Department at The University of Montana also holding a Master of Public Policy from George Mason University. Courtney also attended MSU-Northern in 1996, where he served as the editor of The NoMoCo, the school paper.[7]
In June 2020, Courtney pleaded guilty to wire fraud involving his posing as a CIA agent in an elaborate scheme that spanned at least four years, from 2012 to 2016[8]. He swindled at least a dozen companies out of over US$4.4 million by convincing them they would receive lucrative government contracts funded by the black budget in exchange for putting him on their payroll as a cover for his job as a spy.[9][10] To bolster his credibility he developed a fake backstory claiming that he was a U.S. Army veteran from the Gulf War who had killed hundreds in combat, suffered from lung injuries from smoke in Iraq’s oil fields, and was the assassination target of a foreign intelligence service that tried to poison him with ricin.[11] He is scheduled to be sentenced in October 2020.[1][4][12]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Weiner & Jackman, Rachel & Tom (11 June 2020). "Former government spokesman pretended to be CIA operative in $4.4 million scam". The Washington Post. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
- ↑ "Garrison Courtney | C-SPAN.org". www.c-span.org. Retrieved 2020-07-23.
- ↑ "Ex--federal worker pretended to be CIA to steal millions". Star Tribune. Archived from the original on 2020-07-23. Retrieved 2020-07-23.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Barakat, Matthew (11 June 2020). "Ex--federal worker pretended to be CIA to steal millions". The Washington Post. Associated Press. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
- ↑ Harris' staff quick to quit; They leave for better jobs, Katherine Harris says, but turnover worries watchers, Jeremy Wallace, Sarasota Herald Tribune, 28 November, 2005.
- ↑ "Tmz | Talk Show (TV) | Crew Members". staffmeup.com. Retrieved 2020-07-23.
- ↑ A Northern Tidbit, Bill Lanier, Northern Network News, the official newsletter for MSU-Northern, April 20, 2007, p. 4.
- ↑ Gerstein, Josh. "Ex-DEA public affairs chief pleads guilty to brazen scam". POLITICO.
- ↑ Blum, Howard (September 9, 2020). "Opinion | How One Man Conned the Beltway" – via NYTimes.com.
- ↑ Rohrlich, Justin (August 19, 2020). "How a Fake CIA Spy Fooled Everyone and Swindled Millions" – via www.thedailybeast.com.
- ↑ "Former DEA Official Pleads Guilty to Elaborate $4 Million Fraud Scheme". www.justice.gov. June 11, 2020.
- ↑ "Former DEA official admits to posing as CIA agent in fraud scheme". news.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2020-07-23.
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