Palm Beach County Resident Sentenced to Federal Prison for Falsely Impersonating a Deputy U.S. Marshal

John Joseph O’Grady, 61, of Boynton Beach, was sentenced today to 4 months in prison and one year of supervised release, by U.S. District Judge Robin L. Rosenberg, after previously pleading guilty to falsely impersonating a Deputy U.S. Marshal.

Ariana Fajardo Orshan, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Gadyaces S. Serralta, U.S. Marshal, United States Marshals Service (USMS), Miami Field Office, and Michael Gregory, Chief, Boynton Beach Police Department (BBPD), made the announcement.

On March 21, 2018, BBPD officers responded to a call from an employee of Best Buy in Boynton Beach, requesting that a man in a dark business suit, later identified as Defendant O’Grady, be issued a trespass warning because he had returned to the store after previously shoplifting an iPhone.  As captured on police body camera footage, when BBPD officers responded and made contact with O’Grady, they observed him dressed in a suit jacket that displayed a USMS lapel pin (that is, a miniature replica of the USMS star within a circle badge).   For officer safety, O’Grady was asked if he had any weapons on his person and responded in the affirmative.   Officers discovered O’Grady to be in possession of a highly realistic replica of a semi-automatic pistol in a holster.   O’Grady was also wearing an unauthorized U.S. Marshal badge on his belt.  O’Grady falsely identified himself to law enforcement as “a Federal Marshal,” when in fact he was a limo driver.

            U.S. Attorney Fajardo Orshan commended the investigative efforts of the USMS and BBPD in this matter.  This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John C. McMillan.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.