Tourist posed as US marshal to land discounts in Pigeon Forge, feds say
An Indiana man has pleaded guilty to impersonating a federal officer after authorities say he posed as a U.S. deputy marshal to score discounted room rates at a Pigeon Forge hotel, according to court records.
Prosecutors say Anthony Taylor tricked SpringHill Suites hotel staff into giving him special discounts offered to federal employees from 2014 to April 2019 — defrauding the lodge out of nearly $3,000. He entered a guilty plea in an eastern Tennessee district court this week.
In court documents, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Kolman said Taylor stayed at the hotel “on at least 10 different occasions” and received a discount each time. He even flashed a fake badge to play up the ruse, authorities said, according to the Knoxville News Sentinel.
“The defendant always paid in cash and on more than one occasion told the desk clerk collecting the payments to wash her hands after handling the money, as it was confiscated drug money he had received as bonuses for ‘busts,’ “ Kolman wrote.
Authorities said hotel staff eventually got suspicious and alerted real marshals to the suspected fraudster. Taylor visited the SpringHIll Suites again on April 11, 2019, and was met by two plainclothes deputy marshals who witnessed him posing as a law enforcement officer while paying for his room, according to court records.
“The DUSMs approached the defendant asking him why he was holding himself out as a (deputy),” Kolman wrote. “The defendant said he we doing it for the discount.”
Impersonating a law enforcement officer is a federal crime carrying a penalty of up to three years in prison and a $250,000 fine. However, Taylor agreed to a plea deal in September, court records show.
A sentencing hearing is scheduled for Feb. 5, 2021.
This story was originally published November 13, 2020 at 6:16 PM with the headline "Tourist posed as US marshal to land discounts in Pigeon Forge, feds say."