A change of plea hearing was ordered in the case of Bill A. Jakob in the Eastern Division of the United States District Court. Rodney W. Sippel, United States District Judge has set the hearing for Monday, Sept. 29, at 10 a.m. in his courtroom.

Joel Schwartz, attorney for Jakob, had earlier entered a not guilty

plea on his client’s behalf. He told The Republican Thursday evening

that his client would plead guilty on Monday “but I can’t comment

beyond that.” When asked if client had entered into any kind of plea

agreement with the prosecution, Schwartz declined to comment.

Jakob would be pleading guilty to 23 federal counts including one count

each of mail and wire fraud, 20 counts of false personation and one

count of making a false statement to investigators.

Jakob was indicted on those charges on July 10. The counts cover two

separate scams in which Jakob was allegedly involved. The  mail and

wire charges and two of the false impersonation charges relate to a

scheme that Jakob ran against his former employer, Total Lock and Keys

in Maryland Heights. There he set up two fake personas of purchasing

agents for the U.S. Corps of Engineers.

The rest of the charges involve Jakob’s association with the Gerald

Police Department last spring when he repeatedly identified himself to

area residents as a federal agent.

The wire and mail fraud counts each carry a maximum penalty of 20 years

in prison and/or fines up to $250,000; each count of false

impersonation carries a maximum of three years in prison and/or fines

up to $250,000; and making false statements carries a maximum of five

years prison and/or fines up to $250,000, according to U.S. Attorney

Catherine Hanaway’s office.