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QUEENS---A York College student stopped by Port Authority police for a traffic infraction while leaving John F. Kennedy International Airport earlier this week has been charged with impersonating a federal agent. As part of his ruse the defendant is alleged to have modified his minivan to look like a law enforcement vehicle and to have accumulated a cache of weapons and law enforcement paraphernalia in his home.
"The defendant is accused of forging documents identifying himself as a law enforcement agent of at least four federal agencies and various City agencies. The defendant's alleged conduct in this era of heightened security was both dangerous and reprehensible because it exploited the public's trust in the police and placed both his life and those of actual police officers in possible jeopardy", Queens district attorney Richard A. Brown said.
Brown identified the defendant as Stephan M. Kishore, 20, of 1155 Croes Avenue in the Bronx. He was arraigned before Queens Criminal Court Judge William Harrington on charges of forgery in the second degree, criminal possession of a forged instrument in the second degree, criminal possession of forgery devices, criminal impersonation in the first degree and criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree as well as several infractions of the City's Administrative
Code relating to firearms and unlawful use of police uniform and emblem, and the State Vehicle and Traffic Laws.
Kishore, who faces up to seven years in prison if convicted, was ordered held on $50,000 bail. His next court date is Sept. 12.
Prosecutors said that, according to the criminal charges, at about 12:21 p.m. on Aug. 28, Kishore's 1993 Mercury minivan was pulled over near Exit 9 of the Van Wyck Expressway after he was observed by Port Authority police changing lanes without signaling. Upon stopping the vehicle, police observed a large police decal prominently displayed on the rear door and what appeared to be red and blue police strobe lights on the front dashboard, as well as two Department of Homeland Security (DHS) parking placards.
Brown said it is further alleged that the defendant handed the police officer a black wallet containing a DHS Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) identification card and an ICE shield. When asked the question if he was the police, the defendant allegedly replied, "Yes, and I'm on duty." However, a further examination of the defendant's shield revealed the wording "Copshop.com, Collectible Badge, Not For Official Use" on the back. Kishore also allegedly provided the police officer a New York State driver's license on which the expiration date of his temporary visitor's status had been fraudulently altered with a red pen from August 2005 to August 2006.
Brown said that it is additionally alleged that the defendant admitted that he was not a law enforcement officer and that he had made the placards and the DHS identification card on his home computer. The defendant also allegedly admitted that he had templates for numerous law enforcement agency insignias and that he had numerous federal and local identification cards, as well as two stun guns, two BB guns and two starter pistols in his bedroom at home.
Prosecutors said that at approximately 7:50 p.m. on Aug. 28, police executed a court-authorized search warrant prepared by the District Attorney's Organized Crime and Rackets Bureau on the defendant's Bronx bedroom. Once inside, police recovered two stun guns, two BB guns and two starter pistols, as well as a laptop computer containing numerous templates for State and Federal law enforcement insignias and credentials, a laminator with accompanying plastic
and blank plastic identification cards.
Also recovered were 32 federal law enforcement identification cards including those for the DHS, the United States Marshals Service, the Drug Enforcement Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation as well as two pilot license cards, one press identification card and five weapon permits. In addition, police recovered 11 federal and local law enforcement shields including four New York City Police Department shields, three Department of Education shields, one Department of Corrections shield, one New York State locksmith shield, one United State Customs shield and one Shield Radiation Safety Officer shield. 9-1-06
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© 2006 North
Country Gazette
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