Jon Elswick/AP
- Arian Taherzadeh and Haider Ali are newly charged with possessing illegal, large capacity magazines.
- A federal indictment was filed against the duo on Tuesday. They remain free on house arrest.
- Prosecutors say the men impersonated Homeland Security agents and lavished gifts on Secret Service agents.
A federal grand jury has returned an indictment against two DC men accused of impersonating Homeland Security agents and lavishing gifts on Secret Service personnel, including one assigned to First Lady Jill Biden.
The new indictment charges Arian Taherzadeh and Haider Ali with one count each of false impersonation of a federal officer.
It additionally charges the two men with new counts of unlawful possession of large-capacity ammunition magazines.
The men shared possession of an illegal magazine for a Glock firearm, according to the indictment, and Taherzadeh is additionally charged with possessing five illegal magazines for a Sig Sauer firearm.
The pair remain free under home confinement in Washington, DC. Federal prosecutors said they kept an “arsenal” of more than 100 rounds of ammunition in their luxury apartments.
For two years, they lived in the southeast DC complex — home to several Secret Service agents and other law enforcement officials, prosecutors say.
During that time, the two portrayed themselves as gun-toting, tactical gear-wearing Homeland Security agents, according to prosecutors.
While it’s not clear if the pair received in return, they did lavish free electronics and even rent-free apartments on law enforcement officers who were their neighbors, prosecutors said.
Taherzadeh offered to buy a $2,000 assault rifle for a Secret Service agent assigned to the First Lady’s detail, prosecutors said. In early April, four members of the Secret Service linked to the case were placed on administrative leave pending further investigation.
Federal prosecutors described the pair as armed and potentially dangerous men who may have tried to “infiltrate” law enforcement for nefarious reasons. Ali has told at least one witness that he has ties to Pakistani intelligence, prosecutors previously said.
But their defense lawyers have insisted that the men had no plans and no connections to outside operatives or governments. They also had no money and actually owed $220,000 in unpaid rent on the apartments, the lawyers said.
In releasing the men to home confinement on April 12, Magistrate Judge G. Michael Harvey said, given the current lack of evidence of a larger, nefarious plot, he agreed with the defense.
“It strikes me as sophomoric behavior — not the kind of behavior that warrants pretrial detention,” the judge said.
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