Fraud by fake CIA operative lands 7-year prison term

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — For years, Garrison Courtney had convinced people he was not just a federal public affairs officer but in fact a covert CIA operative working on a classified task force.

The fraud was so compelling that even when it began to unravel, the people he duped stonewalled federal investigators, convinced that talking about Courtney would betray his secret program.

The scheme finally fully collapsed Friday, when he was sentenced to seven years in prison for a yearslong scheme that netted more than $4 million from companies and contractors who thought they were doing their patriotic duty by supporting him.

“It was such a diabolical series of crimes,” U.S. District Judge Liam O'Grady said at Friday's sentencing hearing. “It was so inventive, so creative. As a result it created such a great danger to our country and to our intelligence community.”

Courtney would approach private companies and tell them he was a covert CIA operative and they needed to add him to his payroll to provide off-the-books funding for the classified task force. He promised the companies they would be reimbursed for their participation.

In all, he raked in more than $4.4 million through his scheme. He kept more than $1 million and used the other funds to pay companies to keep the scheme going.

“It's a huge Ponzi scheme,” said Steven M. D’Antuono, assistant director in charge of the FBI's Washington Field Office, at a press conference after the hearing. “He lied and lied and lied.”

U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District G. Zachary Terwilliger, whose office prosecuted the case, called the case a “teaching moment” for the government. Numerous public officials were drawn into the scheme to lend it credibility, including high-ranking Drug Enforcement...