FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, February 14, 2008
DAVID BRODHAGEN PLEADS GUILTY IN U.S. FEDERAL COURT
Bill Mercer, United States Attorney for the District of Montana, announced today that during a federal court session in the Eastern District of Washington on February 12, 2008, before Senior U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour from the Western District of Washington, DAVID BRODHAGEN, a 48-year-old resident of Reardan, Washington, pled guilty to a misdemeanor count of false statement by a public official. Sentencing is set for June 10, 2008, in Spokane, Washington. He is currently released on special conditions.
In an Offer of Proof filed by the United States, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:
On November 11, 2002, BRODHAGEN, a Deputy U.S. Marshal, submitted an Internet application to Saint Regis University. In this application, BRODHAGEN stated he wanted a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Science/Liberal Arts. BRODHAGEN paid $731 by credit card to obtain this degree. As part of his submission package, BRODHAGEN stated, "At this time in my career, I feel it is important to obtain a BA Degree. Without it, I will not be able to go further up in my career ladder. With only seven more years remaining before retirement, it is too late to go to the conventional route of a four year college. This is my primary reason for applying for a degree based upon my experience, training, and college education." St. Regis asked him which classes he wanted on his transcript and what grades he wanted reflected as having received.
The Internet application for Saint Regis University contained a warning stating that the applicant understands they are not enrolling in a school of any type and that Saint Regis University will not provide any representation of accreditation.
Approximately 21/2 months later, on or about January 28, 2003, BRODHAGEN applied for a position as the Supervisory Deputy United States Marshal in the Spokane, Washington, office of the United States Marshals Service. Within the job application, BRODHAGEN claimed he had a Bachelor's degree and was entitled to a 12 point rating indicative of such a degree. He also included a copy of a degree from Saint Regis University indicating he had obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice on June 5, 2002.
BRODHAGEN was interviewed by the Office of Inspector General (OIG) and stated he located Saint Regis University from an advertisement he read in a magazine. He went to their Internet site, completed their enrollment forms, and paid them $731 to obtain a college degree for "life experiences." He admitted that he never completed any classes from them. BRODHAGEN also stated he did not possess a Bachelor's degree from any other institution.
BRODHAGEN stated he also included a transcript of courses allegedly taken at Saint Regis University, even though he admitted he took no such classes. The transcript showed he completed 29 different classes and received between a "B" and an "A" for every class. The grade point average for his degree was shown on the transcript as 3.65. BRODHAGEN said Saint Regis had previously asked him what grade point average he desired on his transcript, and he told them 3.65.
BRODHAGEN signed a certificate at the end of his job application for promotion within the United States Marshals Service stating, "all information provided in the application are true, complete and correct to the best of his knowledge and belief."
BRODHAGEN told the OIG that a short time after submitting his promotion package, he noted in his Saint Regis University transcript a course entitled "Defense Class For Women," in which he received a grade of an "A-." BRODHAGEN realized he should never have received credit for this class as he was not a woman. He allegedly called the Marshals Service Human Resources Department and questioned an unknown female whether he could receive credit for this course and if the degree was in fact valid. She told him to call some other colleges to determine if they would accept his courses from Saint Regis University. BRODHAGEN subsequently called Concordia College, which he attended in 1994, and found they would not accept the Saint Regis courses.
BRODHAGEN said that over the course of several telephone calls with the unknown female in Human Resources, it was agreed upon that BRODHAGEN would not receive any credit in his promotion package for obtaining a four year degree from Saint Regis. BRODHAGEN claimed he subsequently submitted a revised education page to his promotion package showing he did not possess a four year college degree and his education points were downgraded from 12 points to 4 points.
BRODHAGEN was adamant that he initiated the inquiry with the female in the Human Resources Department concerning the validity of the Defense Class For Women credit and the validity of his degree.
Contact with the Chief of the Merit Promotion Department within the Marshals Service and two other employees was unsuccessful in determining who BRODHAGEN may have talked to about the Saint Regis degree. The Chief of the Merit Promotion Department said BRODHAGEN would have had to talk to her or the other women interviewed as they were the only people involved in the application and hiring process. She also noted that BRODHAGEN'S application package had been lost. [A copy of the application was retrieved from BRODHAGEN during the investigation].
BRODHAGEN was selected by the U.S. Marshal of the Spokane, Washington office for the position of Supervisory Deputy United States Marshal. The Marshal said whether BRODHAGEN had a Bachelor's degree never came up, nor was it an issue in him being selected for the position. He relied on the list of suitable candidates from the promotion packet provided to him by the career board to make his selection. He was not allowed to interview any candidates. The Marshal said it was to BRODHAGEN'S advantage in that he was the only candidate the Marshal knew.
BRODHAGEN claimed that, although he never took any classes from Saint Regis University, his life experiences, other college courses, and job experiences as a United States Marshal entitled him to the Bachelor's degree from Saint Regis University. BRODHAGEN said at the time, he believed the degree to be valid and that he did nothing wrong.
In October of 2007, BRODHAGEN took a polygraph examination to evaluate whether he could have sincerely believed that he could legitimately claim that he had a legitimate college degree. He failed conclusively, but made no admissions.
BRODHAGEN faces possible penalties of 1 year in prison, a $100,000 fine and 1 year supervised release.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Carl E. Rostad prosecuted the case for the United States.
The investigation was conducted by the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General.
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A copy of the Offer of Proof can be obtained by contacting Sally Frank at (406) 247-4638.
