California Man Posed as ICE Agent for Months, Prosecutors Allege

Federal prosecutors sentenced a California man who posed as an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent to two years in prison on Monday for “possessing an unregistered destructive,” the Sacramento Bee reported. Matthew Johnston pretended to be an ICE official for months “to show everyone that he was ‘somebody,’” according to court documents. Authorities found 32 firearms, 10,000 rounds of ammunition, cannon fuses, homemade rockets, and other explosive devices after searching Johnston’s house last October, according to prosecutors. Federal officials tracked the Fontana resident down after local police pulled over Johnston’s girlfriend in his car for accidentally activating red-and-blue lights. After the girlfriend told the cop that Johnston worked for the Department of Homeland Security, an officer reached out to local ICE authorities who said they had never heard of Johnston. The 26-year-old also listed DHS as his employer on Facebook, told strippers he was a federal agent, and wore ICE badges on uniforms.