EX-CHP Officer Gets Prison for Posing as FBI Agent in Theft

A former California Highway Patrol officer who impersonated an FBI agent and stole thousands of dollars from a market was sentenced to five years in prison Tuesday.

William Francis Wilson Jr., 44, of Canyon Country, had pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in October to two counts of impersonating an FBI agent.

Assistant U.S. Atty. Carolyn Kubota said the charges stemmed from a theft at Tresierras Market in Pacoima on April 10 and an attempted theft at Carlton’s Market in El Monte on June 22, which the government claims was aborted because Wilson realized the store operators were stalling and he feared arrest. He later was arrested six blocks from the market.

Kubota said Wilson told the victims that he was an FBI agent conducting a counterfeit investigation and asked to see their receipts.

At Tresierras Market, the government alleged, Wilson took about $90,000 when the owner left him alone with the cash. The defense had claimed the amount was closer to $60,000.

As part of the sentencing, U.S. District Judge Edward Rafeedie ordered Wilson to repay the market $50,000.

Wilson’s lawyer, Richard E. Nahigian, and several supporters expressed shock at the length of the sentence. Nahigian said the court was holding Wilson to a “higher standard.”

In sentencing Wilson, Rafeedie recognized that Wilson had no prior convictions “before these began. But he is 44 years old. He should realize he cannot commit these types of offenses without expecting to pay the price.”

The judge also noted that Wilson said he committed the offenses because he needed money for his family.

Kubota said Wilson left the CHP in 1978. He worked for the CHP in Newhall and West Los Angeles for 13 years.

Kubota said Wilson justified by his actions by rationalizing that he was stealing from markets that were laundering narcotics money.

“The defendant continues to this day to minimize what he’s done,” she said, adding that there is no evidence the markets were laundering drug money.