ST. LOUIS — U.S. District Attorney Catherine L. Hanaway’s staff

concluded on Friday the prosecution of a complex case involving made up

government bids for specialty lock systems and the impersonation of

federal law enforcement officers by Bill A. Jakob, 36, of Washington,

Mo.

Jakob was sentenced to five years in prison on multiple counts involving his impersonation of law enforcement officers in Gerald, and posing as a contracting officer for the U.S. Corps of Engineers, Hanaway announced Friday.

“During several arrests, Jakob was armed and actually placed people in handcuffs,” said Hanaway in a press release issued following the court hearing held at the Thomas F. Eagleton Federal Courthouse. “People who impersonate officers and put our citizens at risk will be prosecuted and held accountable for their actions.”

In addition to his prison sentence, Jakob was ordered to pay restitution of $30,000 to Total Lock & Security Company, and a $2,300 Special Assessment. Following his term of imprisonment, he will be on supervised release for three years. A percentage of his wage earnings, any tax refunds, and lottery winnings must go to pay off his fines.

Hanaway explained the case noting the first four counts of the plea agreement detailed how Jakob posed as a contracting officer for the U.S.

Corps of Engineers while he was employed at the Total Lock & Security Company. Total Lock & Security Company, located in Maryland Heights, Mo., sells doors and locksets to commercial customers and United States government agencies. During January 2007, Jakob was hired as a dispatcher for Total Lock & Security, and was promoted in April to salesperson, with a primary focus on military and other government agency sales, until his termination in January 2008.

Between July 2007 and January 2008, Jakob falsely represented to Total Lock that he had negotiated three separate contracts for electronic locksets to the United States Army Corps of Engineers. Jakob established an e-mail account which falsely represented to be a true e-mail address for the purported Corps of Engineers contracting officers    — both females —  relative to the sham lockset sale. Jakob made up two names of purported Corps of Engineers contracting officers, who were actually Jakob.

Based upon Jakob’s false representations Total Lock believed it was entering into several contracts with the Corps of Engineers valued at approximately $500,000. Further, because of these false contracts Total Lock had to purchase these specialized locksets from its own supplier to fill the sham contracts with the Corps of Engineers.

Jakob also pled guilty to 13 counts involving his false impersonation of three different federal officers. On separate occasions during April 2008, Jakob represented himself as either an officer and employee of the United States Drug Enforcement Agency, an agent of the United States Department of Justice Multi Jurisdictional Narcotics Task Force or as a United States Marshal, and participated in multiple arrests and residential searches in the Gerald area.

Residential searches occurred on North Bernhardt, the 600 block of South Main Street, the 7400 block of Antioch Road outside of Gerald, the 900 block of South Old Potosi Road, the 400 block of East Canaan Road, the 300 block of West 6th Street, and at a residence on Pear Tree.

Finally, Jakob admitted that he denied that he posed as an agent of the United States Department of Justice Multi Jurisdictional Narcotics Task Force when questioned by the FBI in May 2008. That denial came when legitimate lawmen visited the Gerald police station, and later Jakob’s rural Washington home, in the days following his appointment as a reserve police office for the Gerald Police Department.

Jakob, 36, of Washington, pled guilty in September to one felony count of wire fraud, one felony count of mail fraud, two felony counts of false impersonation, eighteen felony counts of false impersonation in making arrests and residential searches, and one felony count of making false statements to the FBI. He appeared for sentencing Dec. 19 before United States District Judge Rodney W. Sippel.

Hanaway commended the work on the case by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department, the Franklin County Prosecuting Attorney, Defense Criminal Investigative Service, the Missouri State Highway Patrol, and Assistant United States Attorney Hal Goldsmith, who handled the case for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.