Georgia man charged with impersonating a CIA agent

A Georgia man with a history of impersonating law enforcement officers was arrested after allegedly claiming to be a CIA agent, the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a news release.

Robert Earhart, Jr., a 38-year-old from Columbus, Georgia, allegedly left a voicemail with the U.S. Attorney's Office identifying himself as a CIA agent with the "protective operations division" with top security clearance and as a Homeland Security agent, the release said.

On February 3, an undercover FBI agent placed a recorded call to Earhart, Jr. where he confirmed the suspect had called the U.S. Attorney's Office and claimed he was working with the inspector general and had a few ongoing investigations, according to an arrest affidavit. 

On that call, Earhart, Jr. also claimed, among other things, that he was a victim of identity theft, that an ex-girlfriend had embezzled his paycheck from the Department of Homeland Security, and that he was working on a case where people he referred to as "these people" stole $2.5 million from the federal government, the affidavit said. 

During that call, Earhart, Jr., who stated he has "CIA clearance and top security clearance," asked to come to the U.S. Attorney's Office a few days later to meet with a judge to get his warrants signed, claiming that "he has the law enforcement side down," but just needed to tag along to shadow the U.S. Attorney's Office to make sure the paperwork was done correctly, according to the affidavit. 

He's been charged with one count of false personation of an officer or employee of the United States and faces up to three years in prison followed by one year of supervised release and a $250,000 fine, according to the release.

This was not Earhart, Jr.'s first time impersonating a law enforcement officer, the U.S. Attorney's Office said, claiming that he identified himself as a DEA agent in May 2019 while trying to free three inmates from a Georgia jail.