Newport man gets jail time for posing as a fire marshal and performing fake inspections
A Newport Beach man was sentenced to 180 days in jail for posing as a fire marshal and charging Orange County businesses for fraudulent inspections, prosecutors said Monday.
Brian Lee Carsten, 37, pleaded guilty Friday to five felony counts of extortion by force or threat, five misdemeanor counts of fraudulently personating fire personnel and one misdemeanor count of possessing a firearm in violation of a protective order, according to the Orange County district attorney’s office.
In addition to the jail time, he was sentenced to three years’ formal probation and ordered to pay restitution.
Prosecutors said Carsten visited a car audio store in Huntington Beach in August 2016 wearing a uniform and identifying himself as a fire marshal. He charged the business $209 for his fraudulent work, dropping off a bill and receipt on Cal Fire letterhead, according to the district attorney’s office.
Prosecutors said Carsten also did a fraudulent inspection at an Anaheim business in September 2016 and threatened the business with a citation if it didn’t pay. He later received two payments of $209.
Later that month, Carsten did fake inspections of businesses in Santa Ana, prosecutors said.
He was arrested by Anaheim police.
Twitter: @BradleyZint
All the latest on Orange County from Orange County.
Get our free TimesOC newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Daily Pilot.
