Bill A. Jakob, 36, of rural Washington, Mo., may have pulled off the ultimate scam when he convinced an entire police force, mayor, and board of alderman, he was a federal drug agent.

As a result,  Police Chief Ryan McCrary, Lt. Scott Ramsey and officer Shannon Kestermont were placed on paid administrative leave Monday afternoon and fired Tuesday (see box on top left).

According to McCrary, Jakob first came to Gerald about three months ago. He showed McCrary a badge supposedly issued by the Department of Justice, Multi Jurisdictional Task Force. He explained that his job with that agency was to help small communities by providing extra resources to help fight illegal drugs.

Jakob commiserated with the Gerald police officers that they allegedly got little support from Jason Grellner, head of the Franklin County Drug Task Force. That’s why he had “gone over the head” of Grellner in approaching McCrary, Jakob explained.

Jakob asked that they send a fax on city of Gerald letterhead to his bosses requesting his assistance, which McCrary did. McCrary then called a number, provided by Jakob, to verify that the fax had been received. A female answering that call told them everything was in order and their request was being reviewed.

Jakob assured both the police chief and the mayor that his salary would be paid by the Department of Justice. He would simply work out of the Gerald police station.

Jakob drove a 2003 Ford Crown Victoria, fully equipped for police work with lights, siren, radio, and guns. The plates on his car read “Multi Jurisdictional Task Force,” but he was sometimes allowed to use the 802 plates of the GPD. He gave McCrary a copy of the vehicles’s registration printed on Department of Motor Vehicle letterhead, listing an address of 2651 Carlsbad, St. Louis. Ramsey determined last Saturday that this was the address of a parking lot.

By mid-April, Jakob was at the Gerald police station most days. On April 23, according to McCrary, when a prisoner needed to be transported back to Gerald from St. Louis, Jakob offered to make the trip. He and the prisoner arrived at the Gerald police department in the company of a jailer with the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department, McCrary reported.

After several raids of homes on April 24, Jakob stated that he “did not want anyone taken to Franklin County,” according to  Ramsey. Jakob personally took one of the suspects from Gerald to meet a “federal transport” in the Pacific/Eureka area. He told the GPD that he turned the suspect over to a federal marshal.

The department was very active between April 24 and May 6. Reports were surfacing of doors being kicked in, guns being brandished, searches made without warrants, and items seized with no property receipts given to the owners. Jakob was active in these raids, and carried a shotgun with a pistol grip in his hand as he stalked through local residences screaming, “Everyone get down on the floor.”

When citizens asked who he was, or asked to see his credentials, he told them, “I’m Bill, that’s all you need to know.” He usually referred to himself as a Drug Enforcement Agent or a Federal Marshal.

At least one of the homes raided by Jakob and the GPD was located well outside the city limits on Antioch Road.

After hearing these complaints, The Republican contacted Franklin County Sheriff Gary Toelke in late April and asked under what circumstances can a federal agent conduct searches without warrants. Toelke said that federal agents need to follow the same rules as other law enforcement officers. The sheriff offered to check to see if his department was aware of any federal agents in the area. “Normally they let my office know when they are around so that we don’t cross up each other’s investigations,” Toelke said.

In an investigation last week of a local pharmacy, Jakob was the one who made the actual call to the Drug Enforcement Administration. According to McCrary, he identified himself as Sgt. Jakob with the GPD.

Ramsey says that one of Jakob’s favorite sayings was, “Don’t lie to me. Tell me one lie and you’ll get five years.” Apparently he also threatened members of the Gerald Police Department with the same fate if they revealed his last name.

The Republican contacted  Brad Landwehr, then president of the Board of Aldermen, to try to learn the identity of this mysterious agent, or to learn the terms of his employment with the city.

Landwehr reported that he could not release much information about him, including his last name. When informed that Jakob was entering people’s homes without search warrants, Landwehr agreed to check into it.

In executive session at last Thursday’s board meeting, the Board of Alderman agreed to allow Jakob to affiliate himself in some way with the Gerald Police Department. But everyone questioned by The Republican concerning the specifics of Jakob’s employment gave a different answer.

On Friday, The Republican asked McCrary if Jakob had been hired. McCrary  answered, “Yes, as a Sergeant, full-time.” When further questioned that the board had approved a sixth full-time officer in the five-man department, McCrary emphatically said, “That’s right.” When pressed to explain Jakob’s prior experience, McCrary told The Republican, “He has been a law enforcement officer for 12 to 16 years. The last eight or nine years he has worked for National City, Ill.”

One phone call by The Republican, to the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department in Illinois, revealed that National City’s police department had been disbanded “about eight to twelve years ago.” Further checking by that Sheriff’s Department revealed a criminal sexual abuse conviction against Bill A. Jakob in 1994, when he was in his early twenties, as well as a bench warrant on a failure to appear charge.

A call to Jeremy Spratt at Missouri’s Department of Public Safety’s Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Program confirmed that no Bill A. Jakob, spelled with a “k,” was registered as a peace officer in this state.

Late Friday afternoon, Grellner and an FBI representative visited the Gerald Police station and removed from Jakob the Sergeant’s badge he had held with that department for less than 24 hours.

Contacted Saturday, Mayor Otis Schulte told The Republican that Jakob was hired as a “reserve” officer. Schulte admitted that Jakob had been working for GPD prior to Thursday night’s meeting when he was officially authorized. When pressed for more details Schulte replied, “I know you are trying to get me to say something and I’m not going to.”

He hung up on the reporter.

Landwehr agreed that Jakob was hired as a reserve officer. When asked if he knew if Jakob was POST certified Landwehr replied, “I can’t elaborate on that.” He also said that he assumed McCrary had done a background check on Jakob.

Monday morning, the mayor was invited to a meeting with Franklin County Prosecuting Attorney Bob Parks. As a result of that meeting, the three Gerald officers were placed on administrative leave.

The sheriff’s department will provide police protection and assist the remaining officers until the matter can be resolved.

Franklin County authorities arrested Bill Jakob Monday afternoon for impersonation of a law enforcement officer. He was released from custody pending issuance of warrants.