Apertura. Revista de innovación educativa‏

EXCLUSIVE: 'Fake' DHS agent who had an arsenal of weapons is RELEASED

por Marco Cameron (2022-04-30)


One of the two men accused of posing as federal agents and trying to infiltrate the Secret Service arrived at his family's home in Virginia on Wednesday after he was released from custody because a judge did not consider him a flight risk. 

Exclusive photos captured by DailyMail.com show Arian Taherzadeh, 40, entering his father's home in Sterling after the government didn't file an appeal to have him kept behind bars in a Washington D.C.

jail.

Taherzadeh and his alleged accomplice Haider Sher-Ali, 35, were released to their respective fathers before their trials later this month on claims they spent a year-and-a-half living at the luxury Washington apartment building Crossing DC cozying up to Secret Service agents and federal employees with security clearances.

They allegedly showering government staffers with lavish gifts and provided some with free rent, including on a penthouse unit valued at more than $40,000 for the year.

Secret Service agents in President Joe Biden's, First Lady Jill Biden's and Vice President Kamala Harris' details were allegedly caught up in their schemes.

The pair must remain on house arrest at their fathers' homes in Virginia and are being monitored by GPS.

On Wednesday afternoon a black sedan pulled up at the family home of Taherzadeh at 4:15 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon.

Taherzadeh, dressed in jeans and a gray hoodie, climbed out of the passenger seat of the car, with his father and another man, on the tree lined street in Sterling, Virginia.

He declined to comment as he made his way up the steps to a three-story home, pausing only to wave informally with a shopping bag in one hand, while clutching what looked like court documents to his chest.

Taherzadeh had been released to stay at his father's house, after Masoud Taherzadeh had promised to stay at home to ensure supervision of his son during a court hearing on Monday.

Masoud Taherzadeh said he did not want to comment on the case but briefly answered a question about his son's treatment in custody.

'Everything is beautiful, everything is good,' he told DailyMail.com.

'There is nothing else to say now.' The family's brick home is distinguished from others on the block by a large cross decorating the front door.

Earlier in the day, a contractor in a high-visibility vest stopped at the house and took photographs of the exterior before leaving.

Arian Taherzadeh, 40, arrives at his family's home in Sterling, Virginia, after he was released from custody pending charges he impersonated federal agents and tried to infiltrate the Secret Service 

Taherzadeh, dressed in jeans and a gray hoodie, climbed out of the passenger seat of the car, with his father and another man, on the tree lined street in Sterling, Virginia

The attorney for Ali also confirmed to DailyMail.com that his client had been released from custody on Wednesday.

Magistrate Judge G.

Michael Harvey for the District Court in Washington D.C. denied on Tuesday federal prosecutors' motion to detain Taherzadeh and Ali for impersonating federal agents because he says he isn't convinced that there are links to Pakistan intelligence nor does he feel they post a risk to tampering with evidence or witnesses.

I am going to 'deny the government's request that the two defendants be held pending trial,' Judge Harvey said during proceedings Tuesday afternoon.

'I do not find it reliable that Mr.

Ali has ties to the Pakistani intelligence service,' the judge said.

The decision comes after it was revealed in proceedings earlier Tuesday that Taherzadeh and Ali were 'inadvertently tipped off' by Secret Service investigators of the probe.

Prosecutors claimed that when speaking to witnesses, it was portrayed that Ali [presented] himself as having ties to the Pakistan Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

The judge noted that he is not convinced by the government's case that there is a larger national security-related issue at hand, noting that Taherzadeh and Ali are only facing charges of impersonation of a law enforcement officer, which has a maximum sentence of three years in prison.

RELATED ARTICLES



Share this article
Share


He also classified a lot of the defendants' actions as 'not good', but said it was mostly 'Sophomoric behavior, not the sort of serious dangerous conduct that requires pre-trial detention.'

Magistrate Judge Harvey called many of the federal prosecutors' claims 'overblown' and 'overstated', including suggestions that there could be a national security risk if the two defendants are released.

In the initial motion for detention filed on Friday, federal investigators noted following the search and seizure in five units owned by the defendants: 'Ali's overseas travel to the Middle East, coupled with his claim to one witness that he has a connection to the Pakistani foreign intelligence service, establish that he poses a serious risk of risk of flight."

'[A]nd Taherzadeh's efforts to destroy evidence of his involvement in the impersonation scheme after realizing he was under investigation establishes that he poses a serious risk of obstructing justice."

Ali and Taherzadeh were tipped off on the investigation two days before the FBI raided their apartments, according to federal prosecutors.

Taherzadeh declined to comment as he made his way up the steps to a three-story home, pausing only to wave informally with a shopping bag in one hand, while clutching what looked like court documents to his chest

Magistrate Judge G.

Michael Harvey for the District Court in Washington D.C. denied on Tuesday federal prosecutors' motion to detain Taherzadeh (above) and Ali for impersonating federal agents because he says he isn't convinced that there are links to Pakistan intelligence nor does he feel they post a risk to tampering with evidence or witnesses