Gopaul Parmanand, 41, of Palm Beach Gardens, pled guilty today to falsely impersonating a Special Agent of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Ariana Fajardo Orshan, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Michael T. Moreland, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Office of Professional Responsibility (ICE-OPR), Miami Field Office and Diane J. Sabatino, Director, Field Operations, Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Miami Field Office, made the announcement.

Parmanand is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Robin R. Rosenberg on December 20, 2018, in West Palm Beach.  The defendant faces a maximum statutory sentence of up to three years in prison.

On July 31, 2018, Special Agents assigned to ICE-OPR responded to the Port of Palm Beach after receiving a call from CBP regarding a cruise ship passenger, Gopaul Parmanand, who was returning from a two-day voyage that originated at the Port of Palm Beach, with a stop in Freeport, Bahamas.  Information had been received by CBP from cruise ship staff that Parmanand had been impersonating a federal agent during the voyage and to Bahamian Border Officials.

On July 29, 2018, while on the cruise ship Grand Celebration, Parmanand cut in front of other passengers to approach the shore excursion desk and asked how he could connect to the internet because he had to check his work emails.  He then displayed a silver in color badge and stated that he was “Police ICE.”  During the course of an examination of Parmanand’s luggage, pursuant to an inbound Custom’s inspection at the U.S. Point of Entry, law enforcement discovered a silver in color money clip in the shape of a badge that bore the exact likeness of an ICE Special Agent’s badge with the seal of the Department of Homeland Security at its center. 

Parmanand has never been employed by the Department of Homeland Security in general, or ICE in particular, in any capacity.

U.S. Attorney Fajardo Orshan commended the investigative efforts of ICE-OPR and CBP in this matter.  This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John C. McMillan.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.