Suspects ordered to stop posing as law enforcement

It was an imaginative scheme designed to get cash. Investigators say two Fulton County men were so bold as to pose as government agents, come up with a phony terrorist plot and convince local police two northside communities were in danger.

On Wednesday, a U.S. Magistrate judge released the two men from jail on $20,000 bond and ordered them to stop posing as law enforcement.

The FBI arrested Louis Joseph Aprile and Michael Garveigh on Tuesday of charges of impersonating government and foreign officials. Agents say Aprile, 49, of Alpharetta, posed as a deputy director of the National Security Agency. Garveigh, 45, of Roswell, allegedly posed as an agent with British intelligence agency MI-5.

“I’ve seen impersonating cases, but this one is pretty elaborate,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine Hoffer said Wednesday.

Aprile and Garveigh allegedly planned to raid a Marietta business and two Alpharetta homes on the week of July 4. They were looking for cash, Hoffer said.

The problem was they didn’t know how to get into the business and residences.

That’s when they concocted the scheme to recruit police to help with the raids, investigators said. They came up with the idea of creating a phony counter-terrorism task force.

“They offered some explanations, but nothing that really had any merit,” Hoffer said.

The suspects first met with Alpharetta police officers last month. Aprile told the officers he was a former Navy pilot who served with special forces in Afghanistan and now worked with the NSA, according to an FBI affidavit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court.

He outlined an alleged terrorist plot that would involve “the highest level of national security,” according to the affidavit. The officers were needed to stop terrorists who would be driving milk trucks filled with homemade explosives from Florida to Marietta, Aprile told the officers.

“Aprile stated that they were highly volatile targets and that action had to be soon,” the FBI wrote.

Aprile met with officers from Alpharetta and Marietta at least five times to go over the details of the alleged raids. Garveigh was there at least three times, the FBI said.

In exchange for the officers’ help, Aprile promised national security clearances, training, weapons and other equipment, which they could keep after the raids, according to the affidavit.

The local officers could also “get the glory” after the raids, Aprile told them. He just needed to collect the money, which he believed was stashed at these homes and business, the FBI said.

Throughout the meetings, Aprile told the officers not to involve the FBI. The officers got suspicious and called in federal agents, who confirmed that Aprile and Garveigh had never worked for the NSA, Navy or British intelligence agency, the FBI said.

Hoffer said she couldn’t talk about what type of government credentials - if any - the men showed officers. However, the suspects were convincing enough to make the officers initially believe them, she said.

Alpharetta and Marietta Police declined to comment and referred questions to the FBI.

Aprile’s lawyer, Howard Jarrett Weintraub, said his client has never been arrested. Aprile, whose wife is a Cherokee County teacher, is a software contractor.

“At this time Louis Aprile hasn’t had the opportunity to present his side of the story and he is presumed innocent of any intentional wrongdoing,” Weintraub said in a statement. “Contrary to any misconception regarding the activities of Louis Aprile, the evidence will show that Mr. Aprile’s interactions with local law enforcement officials did not in any way whatsoever jeopardize our government’s efforts to defend the public against terrorism.”

Garveigh’s lawyer, Akil K. Secret, said his client is a commodities broker. “At this point, Mr. Garveigh is pleading not guilty,” Secret said. “He had no malicious intent.”

Investigators are now trying to determine if there were any other victims.

Brian Will, a father of two, believes his Roswell homes was one of the targets and is now working with the FBI.

Will said he hired Garveigh about 18 months ago for $100,000 to install a high-end security camera and audio system in his home. After the work was not complete, Will sued Garveigh for $100,000.

Several months later, he began getting calls from someone claiming to be an NSA agent who wanted to come to his house, Will said. The phony agent, who the NSA confirmed was not a federal employee, threatened he had a no-knock warrant and storm his home, Will said.

“It’s scary. People call and say they are from the government and are going to come bust in your door,” Will said Wednesday after seeing Garveigh in court. “That’s frightening.”