A South Lake Tahoe man who made bomb threats to several locations throughout the United States, then pretended to be a federal agent to check if the threats worked, was found guilty on four counts of impersonating a federal officer July 11.
Prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Sacramento said Anton Andreyevich Iagounov, 38, was convicted after a three-day trial in Sacramento federal court.
A criminal complaint filed in July 2022 by an FBI agent describes the elaborate and often bizarre schemes Mr. Iagounov employed starting in late 2021.
The agent claimed the defendant called in several bomb threats to locations across the country in 2021 and 2022. He followed up many of the threats by impersonating a federal intelligence officer to check if they were taken seriously, according to federal agents.
The defendant also allegedly called in bomb threats to Wyoming state Sen. Cynthia Lummis, the Luxor Casino in Las Vegas, Albany Fire Department in New York, Torrance Police Department in California, and the City of Temple, Texas, among other places, using fake numbers. He followed up on some of them, checking to see if any action was taken, according to the FBI.
He is also accused of calling the Albany County Sheriff’s Office at the Albany International Airport to make a threat that a nuclear device would be set off. Another bomb threat was made to the Boston Fire Department.
A search of Mr. Iagounov’s South Lake Tahoe home uncovered several electronic devices, including a cellphone and two computers that produced evidence that he was the person who called in the bomb threats and impersonated a federal agent, the FBI said.
Mr. Iagounov was also accused of pretending to be an agent of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Office of Inspector General, creating fake investigative documents to obtain sensitive government information, according to Michael Graham, NASA’s acting assistant inspector general for investigations.
Mr. Iagounov is scheduled to be sentenced by a U.S. District judge on Oct. 17. He faces a maximum penalty of three years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count.
Federal prosecutors say the defendant sent several fake search warrants in July 2022.
On July 5, 2022, he sent one to the U.S. Capitol Police with a bogus authorization signature by a NASA special agent. The Capitol Police investigated the document and determined it was fake, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
On July 11, Mr. Iagounov allegedly again pretended to be the same fake NASA agent and sent a warrant to the U.S. District Court in Sacramento. The second document indicated it was for an “emergency filing” and required a judge’s signature. Mr. Iagounov allegedly sent the warrant from an email address he owned which was designed to mimic a U.S. government agency.
Investigators claim the defendant sent another fake search warrant July 18 posing as the same fake NASA agent. The third warrant was sent to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Georgia, again saying it was for an emergency filing and needed a judge’s signature.
Then, on July 24, investigators claim Mr. Iagounov faxed a letter, using the name of a real NASA supervising agent, to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida. In the letter, federal prosecutors say he claimed to be following up on the warrant, and that an “exigent circumstance” required a judge’s signature immediately. An exigent circumstance requires a court to examine whether an emergency justifies a warrantless search in a case, according to U.S. Congress.
The faxed letter included an anonymous email address for the agent that belonged to Mr. Iagounov, according to federal officials. He apparently sent an earlier letter on July 15 to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Florida, but didn’t get a response, the U.S. Attorney’s Office reported.
Mr. Iagounov is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Daniel Calabretta on Oct. 17. He faces a maximum three-year prison sentence and a $250,000 fine per count.
