Criminal Complaint by Telephone or Other Reliable Electronic Means — No. 3:24-mj-00149 (Dkt. 1, S.D. Ohio)

Summary

A criminal complaint by telephone or other reliable electronic means in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, Case No. 3:24-mj-00149, filed as Doc 1 of 6 pages, charging Garrett Cook. The complainant, SA Robert McGuire, FBI, states that on or about March 5, 2024, in the county of Montgomery in the Southern District of Ohio, the defendant violated 18 U.S.C. § 912, impersonating a federal officer, with the facts in an attached affidavit. The complaint was attested by telephone at Dayton, Ohio before Peter B. Silvain, Jr., United States Magistrate Judge, and the supporting affidavit, in which McGuire describes himself as a Special Agent with the FBI, was sworn on the 7th day of March, 2024.

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“Criminal Complaint by Telephone or Other Reliable Electronic Means — No. 3:24-mj-00149 (Dkt. 1, S.D. Ohio).” Original at archive.org. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/criminal-complaint-by-telephone-or-other-reliable-electronic-means-no-d2aa1d460e/, SHA-256 b7a426c8b1ba7c2ca881936b20527bc55a58f991dee852fee64d4c9d2e9f2501.

Full text

Case: 3:24-mj-00149-PBS Doc #: 1 Filed: 03/07/24 Page: 1 of 6 PAGEID #: 1

AO 9 1 (Rev. 11/11 ) Criminal Complaint (modified by USAO for telephone or other reliable electronic means)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
for the
Southern District of Ohio

United States of America )
V. )
) Case No. 3:24-mj-00149
GARRETT COOK )
)
)
)
Defendanl(s)

CRIMINAL COMPLAINT BY TELEPHONE OR OTHER RELIABLE ELECTRONIC MEANS
I, the complainant in this case, state that the following is true to the best of my knowledge and belief.
On or about the date(s) of March 5, 2024 in the county of Montgomery in the
Southern District of Ohio , the defendant(s) violated:

Code Section Offense Description
18 U.S.C. § 912 Impersonating a Federal Officer

This criminal complaint is based on these facts :
See Attached Affidavit

'1/ Continued on the attached sheet.

SA Robert McGuire, FBI
Pri111ed name and title

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Telephon e (specify reliable electronic means).

Date: 3/7/24

City and state: Dayton , Ohio
Peter B. Silvain, Jr.
United States Magist
Case: 3:24-mj-00149-PBS Doc #: 1 Filed: 03/07/24 Page: 2 of 6 PAGEID #: 2

SUPPORTING AFFIDAVIT

Your Affiant Robert McGuire being duly sworn, does hereby depose and state as follows:

INTRODUCTION

1. I am a Special Agent (“SA”) with Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”) and have

been so employed since November 2004. I am currently assigned to the Cincinnati Division,

Dayton Resident Agency. As such, I am charged with investigating crimes against the United

States of America, including but not limited to violations of Title 18 and Title 21 of the United

States Code (U.S.C.). I have received training in organized crime, fraud, drug trafficking

investigations and have participated in numerous related arrests and convictions, related

surveillance, investigations involving the distribution of narcotics and conspiracy to distribute

narcotics, money laundering offenses, supervised the activities of informants who have provided

information and assistance which resulted in arrests and convictions. Based on my training and

experience, I am familiar with federal laws, and I am aware that it is a violation of federal law for

someone to pretend to be an FBI agent when such pretense was false and the person knew it was

false, and the person, while so pretending, acted with the intent to cause a person to follow some

course of action or inaction, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 912.

PURPOSE OF AFFIDAVIT

2. This affidavit is made in support of an application for a federal arrest warrant and

complaint against GARRETT COOK (hereafter “COOK”). I have not included in this Affidavit

all the facts known to me, but only that information sufficient to establish probable cause to believe

that on March 5, 2024, COOK committed a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 912, that being that he

pretended to be an FBI agent, when such pretense was false and COOK knew it was false, and
Case: 3:24-mj-00149-PBS Doc #: 1 Filed: 03/07/24 Page: 3 of 6 PAGEID #: 3

COOK, while so pretending, acted with the intent to cause a person to follow some course of action

or inaction.

3. On or about March 5, 2024, in the Southern District of Ohio, the defendant

GARRETT COOK, did falsely assume and pretend to be an officer and employee of the United

States acting under the authority thereof, that is a Special Agent of the Federal Bureau of

Investigation, and in such assumed and pretended character did act as such, in that he falsely held

himself out as a Special Agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation engaged in locating and

apprehending a person suspected of tracking down sex offenders on the dark web and murdering

them, and sought information concerning the location of that person, in violation of Title 18,

United States Code, Section 912.

SUMMARY OF PROBABLE CAUSE

4. On March 6, 2024, I was contacted by Butler Township Police Department

concerning an individual, later identified as COOK, holding himself out as an FBI agent. On

March 5, 2024, at approximately 9:34 p.m., officers with the Butler Township Police Department

were dispatched to Olive Garden located at 6722 Miller Lane, Dayton, Ohio. The complainant, an

employee of Olive Garden, stated that she was alerted by another employee that there was a man

who was apparently an FBI agent. The purported FBI agent was in the front of the restaurant and

wanted to speak with the employee. The employee agreed to speak with the supposed FBI agent.

5. The employee described the supposed FBI agent as wearing a blue FBI jacket, blue

FBI hat, and a badge holder that was turned around backward. Because the badge holder was

backward, the employee could not determine whether the badge holder contained a badge. The

purported FBI agent flashed a photo of a man and asked the employee if the employee had seen

the man depicted in the photograph. The purported FBI agent explained the man depicted in the

2
Case: 3:24-mj-00149-PBS Doc #: 1 Filed: 03/07/24 Page: 4 of 6 PAGEID #: 4

photograph was GARRETT COOK. The purported FBI agent informed the employee that the

person in the photograph was suspected of tracking down sex offenders on the dark web and

murdering them. The employee explained that the man in the photograph did not look familiar

and the purported FBI agent departed the area.

6. The employee believed the purported FBI agent was not really an FBI Agent and

looked up the name “Garrett Cook” on Facebook. The employee identified a Facebook account

for GARRETT COOK which matched the purported FBI agent. Officers with the Butler Township

Police Department canvassed the area for the subject and were not able to locate him. In canvassing

the area, officers questioned other employees of local businesses and retrieved some surveillance

footage from local businesses near Olive Garden.

7. Surveillance footage from a motel near Olive Garden, time-stamped 8:33 p.m. on

March 5, 2024, shows a male wearing a blue FBI Raid jacket and a blue FBI hat, as well as a badge

holder attached to a lanyard around his neck. The male in the video walks into the entry door of

the hotel then opens what appears to be the main entry door of the lobby but does not enter the

hotel lobby. He immediately turns around and exits the hotel. Due to the timing of this incident,

roughly an hour prior to the Olive Garden incident, I believe the person in the surveillance footage

is the same individual from Olive Garden.

///

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Case: 3:24-mj-00149-PBS Doc #: 1 Filed: 03/07/24 Page: 5 of 6 PAGEID #: 5

8. A screenshot of the surveillance footage is below:

Digital Video Snapshot
Recorder: esa4120
Camera Name: Interior Front Door

~
Capture Size: 1280 x 720 pixels
Device Network Name: esa4120
Device Serial Number: AR1548M0S4
Device Station ID: N/A

9. On March 6, 2024, I reviewed a known FBI computer database that contains records

of FBI agents. A search of this database indicates there is not an FBI agent named Garrett Cook

who is currently employed by the FBI.

10. In addition to the employee identifying the individual who she interacted with at

Olive Garden as the same person who holds himself out on Facebook as GARRETT COOK, law

enforcement spoke to COOK’s mother on March 6, 2024. In speaking with COOK’s mother, she

confirmed the photograph depicted above is her son, GARRETT COOK.

CONCLUSION

11. Based on the facts set forth in the Affidavit, there is probable cause to believe that,

on March 5, 2024, in the Southern District of Ohio, defendant Garrett Cook did falsely assume and
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pretend to be an officer and employee of the United States acting under the authority thereof, that

is a Special Agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and in such assumed and pretended

character did act as such, in that he falsely held himself out as a Special Agent of the Federal

Bureau of Investigation engaged in locating and apprehending a person suspected of tracking down

sex offenders on the dark web and murdering them, and sought information concerning the location

of that person, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 912

Special Agent
Federal Bureau of Investigation

7th day of March, 2024.
Sworn to and subscribed before me this _____

________________________________________
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

Peter B. Silvain, Jr.
United States Magist

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