Raleigh Man Pleads Guilty to Falsely Pretending to be a General Officer in the U.S. Army

RALEIGH – Robert J. Higdon, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, announces that CHRISTIAN GERALD DESGROUX, age 57, of Raleigh, pled guilty today to  pretending to be a United States Army Lieutenant General engaged in transporting a person for a classified briefing and under such guise having asserted authority to land a helicopter at Statistical Analysis Systems (SAS) headquarters, located in Cary, North Carolina – all in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 912.

At sentencing, set for the July 23, 2018 term of court, DESGROUX faces maximum penalties of 3 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, and a term of supervised release following any term of imprisonment.

The case is being investigated by the Department of Homeland Security and the Defense Criminal Investigative Service.  Assistant United States Attorneys Jason Kellhofer and Eleanor Morales are prosecuting the case for the government.