A Portland woman was duped into believing she was a DEA agent-in-training for an entire year, walking around with a badge she thought was real, going on fake ride-alongs, and developing “confidential informants” at her phony supervisor’s behest.
That’s according to a federal complaint first obtained by The Daily Beast, which accuses 41-year-old Robert Edward Golden of impersonating a Drug Enforcement Administration special agent while convincing his “trainee” she was actually on the job.
On the evening of Feb. 1, Portland cops detained Golden and the unnamed woman on a street corner not far from the Portland Art Museum, the complaint states. Officers called the DEA’s Portland District Office and told agents that they had two people claiming to be with the DEA. When the agents arrived on-scene, they found Golden and the woman in handcuffs.
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A sergeant told the real DEA agents that he had spotted Golden and the woman by the open trunk of a silver Dodge Charger, and that he saw a tactical vest inside with a patch on it that said “DEA POLICE” in white lettering. The vehicle was fitted with police lights around the rear license plate and inside the front windshield, the filing continues.
While the sergeant was speaking with Golden, he said he noticed the bottom of a holster peeking out from under Golden’s jacket, according to the filing. As he “removed what appeared to be a firearm but was later determined to be a replica (which contained live ammunition),” Golden told the woman to show the sergeant “her credentials.” She then flashed a badge and ID card purporting to be issued by the DEA.
Cops also found holsters in Golden’s trunk, along with a second tactical vest—this one with a “DEA POLICE” patch in yellow—as well as handcuffs, badges, credentials, and “an AR-15 style rifle (later identified as a bb gun),” according to the complaint.
Golden told the sergeant that he and his partner were “feds,” and that he “had more police equipment in his vehicle and additional police equipment/and identification in his apartment.”
Portland police drove the pair to the local DEA office, and transferred custody over to them. After agents read him his rights, Golden tried to explain things away by claiming he and his sidekick were “into ‘cosplay,’” which accounted for all the police equipment.
He said he “didn’t want anyone to bother him or [the woman] in or around their apartment complex and felt the fake DEA items provided them protection and that he used the red and blue interior lights in his vehicle to get through traffic faster,” the complaint states. “Golden said he also previously acted as an officer to break up a fight by shouting ‘Police!’” and “held up his arm as if displaying a badge or credentials while he described the encounter.”
During Golden’s interrogation, the unidentified woman was also being questioned by investigators—and she was baffled by the bust.
She told the agents that she “was a DEA agent in training and was also attending school for Criminal Justice,” the complaint explains. “She said she has been in training for approximately one year and was issued a DEA badge and credentials by Golden. [She] said GOLDEN had taken a photograph of her and provided it to other agents for use to make an identification card,” and that Golden has “spoken previously of ‘Agent Anderson,’ ‘Agent Luis,’ ‘Agent Garcia,’ and ‘Ms. Bennett’ from the DEA, and Golden told her that she would soon be training with other agents.”
The woman also said that Golden has “taken her on ‘ride-a-longs’ [sic] at night for surveillance and taken her practice shooting, and said Golden claimed he had to put someone into handcuffs on his way into work.”
However, the DEA’s Portland office “does not have any Special Agents in employment” under those names, and the DEA does not provide “ride-a-longs [sic],” the complaint continues.
When investigators again spoke with Golden, they asked him about the supposed training he had provided to his ersatz trainee.
“Golden said he took her to speak with homeless individuals to develop ‘CIs’ (confidential informants) for future use in case ‘something happened’ to Golden and he was no longer around to take care of her,” says the complaint. “Golden said when he and [the woman] approached the homeless individuals they had the DEA credentials displayed.”
The unwitting woman had indeed been “tricked” by Golden into believing that she was really training for the DEA, the filing says, without explaining what his further motivations may have been for carrying on the ruse against her for so long. She is not known to be facing any charges at this time. The precise relationship between her and Golden remains unclear.
Golden’s court-appointed lawyer, Michael Charles Benson, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. If convicted, Golden faces a maximum sentence of three years in federal prison.
