Anton Andreyevich Iagounov, a 38-year-old resident of South Lake Tahoe, has been sentenced to two years and three months in prison. U.S. District Judge Daniel J. Calabretta delivered the sentence for four counts of impersonating a federal officer, as announced by Acting U.S. Attorney Michele Beckwith.
Court documents and evidence from a trial in July 2024 revealed that Iagounov pretended to be a federal law enforcement agent. He created counterfeit investigative documents signed with the name of a fictional federal agent to obtain protected information from the Department of Defense.
Acting U.S. Attorney Beckwith stated, "The defendant impersonated federal officers and tried multiple times to obtain protected information using fake court documents." She emphasized that impersonation of federal officers is not tolerated.
Michael Graham, Acting Assistant Inspector General for Investigations, highlighted the risk posed by Iagounov's actions: "Mr. Iagounov’s attempt to undermine public trust in order to obtain sensitive government information posed a significant risk, potentially endangering national security and the integrity of NASA and government operations."
Acting Special Agent in Charge Jeremy N. Schwartz of the FBI Las Vegas Division remarked on the breach of trust between federal agencies: "The defendant impersonated a federal law enforcement officer and took advantage of the trust that exists between federal agencies."
Iagounov's fraudulent activities began on July 5, 2022, when he sent a fabricated search warrant to the U.S. Capitol Police, falsely claiming it was authorized by NASA Office of Inspector General (NASA-OIG) and signed by a U.S. District Court judge for the District of Columbia. The Capitol Police identified it as fake and referred it for further investigation.
He continued his impersonation on July 11, 2022, sending another false warrant to the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California without a judge’s signature but claiming it required urgent attention. He used an email address designed to appear as if it belonged to a government agency.
On July 18, 2022, Iagounov sent another fake warrant purporting to be signed by a fictitious NASA-OIG agent to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Georgia under similar pretenses.
His final act occurred on July 24, 2022, when he faxed a letter under the name of an actual NASA-OIG supervising agent to the U.S. District Court for Northern Florida demanding immediate action due to "exigent circumstances." This letter included an anonymous email address controlled by Iagounov.
Each time these documents were received due to their sensitive nature, they were referred to NASA-OIG for review and investigation.
This case resulted from an investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and NASA Office of Inspector General with assistance from local law enforcement agencies including South Lake Tahoe Police Department and Carson City Sheriff’s Office. The prosecution was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys James Conolly and Audrey Hemesath.