MILWAUKEE — A Milwaukee jury found a Racine man guilty on two charges of impersonating a Drug Enforcement Administration agent, Matthew D. Krueger, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, said Tuesday.
Jeremy C. Wade, 29, was convicted of carrying a firearm and wearing an official-looking DEA badge in an encounter with a citizen in January and February.
In the encounter, Wade asked for information about a particular individual and showed the citizen a supposed mugshot of the individual.
The evidence at trial also showed Wade renewed his request in February for information about the location of the wanted person by writing the citizen a note on his official-looking DEA business card and leaving it at the citizen’s residence.
Sentencing was set for May 9. Each count carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000, or both. Krueger said,
“It is critical that citizens be protected from unscrupulous people who would convincingly pretend — as the defendant did in this case — that they are federal law enforcement agents. We are committed to protecting the reputation and integrity of federal law enforcement agents, whose badges are earned, not purchased on the Internet,” Krueger said in a news release.
