Kevin Ladon Balfour, a 62-year-old native of Warren, Michigan, has been accused of impersonating an FBI agent for the second time. What makes his impersonations different from a number of other people’s attempts over the years to fool others into believing that they were federal agents, is that Balfour pretended to be a corrupt agent in order to steal money.
The issue came to the attention of authorities in January of 2014, when Balfour defrauded someone out of $1,000 in return for supposedly clearing their drunk driving record. He was said to have been wearing a gun in a holster on his hip along with handcuffs and a silver badge on his belt that identified him as an FBI agent. He told his victims that he was able to clear their tickets, criminal records and other legal complications in return for money according to witness statements. Many of them apparently believed him.
Numerous weapons were found in his possession
According to federal officials, Balfour was arrested and charged in federal court with knowingly and intentionally impersonating a federal agent. When Balfour was arrested, investigators were said to have found numerous weapons in his possession along with a variety of different law enforcement badges.
He pled guilty to the charge and was sentenced to spend three years in a federal prison and ordered to pay $1,000 in restitution fees to his victims. Alas, Balfour was released later in 2014 and by March of 2016 he was said to have resumed the practice of pretending to be an FBI agent.
According to media sources, Balfour was taken into federal custody again on Friday of last week. He has once again been charged with knowingly and intentionally impersonating a federal agent. According to federal law, a person is guilty of a third degree felony if they “knowingly purport to exercise any function of a public servant or of a public office, including that of a judge and court…has no lawful existence under the constitution or laws of this state or of the United States.”
Federal court records say that Balfour has an extensive criminal history in Illinois. It includes armed robbery, criminal damage to property, theft and burglary, aggravated assault and battery, unlawful use of a weapon, forgery, retail fraud and false impersonation of a peace officer.
According to Special agent in Charge David Gelios of the FBI’s Detroit Division, Balfour’s criminal record in Michigan looks very much the same. In addition, Balfour has also previously been arrested by the United States Secret Service for possession of stolen treasury checks.
Balfour was held over the weekend, and appeared in court on Monday morning for a detention hearing. Our criminal defense attorneys would like to remind our readers that impersonating a law enforcement officer is against the state of Michigan law and the federal law, whether you are pretending to be a sheriff’s deputy, an MSP Trooper, a city police officer, or a federal agent. If however, you are already charged with this, or any other state or federal crime, contact us immediately. We can help you.