When apprehending those suspected of committing a criminal act, there are rules and laws that must be obeyed. This pertains to members of official law enforcement, but also applies to others who operate in the sometimes gray areas on the fringes of the law. Depending on the jurisdiction, bail bondsmen and bounty hunters can enter a fugitive’s legal address without a warrant, take those with bench warrants against them into custody, and even carry a badge identifying them as a “bail enforcement agent.” What they can’t do is identify themselves as either a police officer or a federal agent, which is why an Ohio man finds himself filing motions before his trial in federal court begins.
Brendan Conklin is facing charges for impersonating a U.S. marshal, along with unlawful restraint and search of a person while falsely presenting himself as an employee of the United States in 2023. The incident stems from a traffic stop Conklin conducted in Westerville, Ohio, while operating a vehicle closely resembling a police car, including flashing blue lights and a dash-mounted shotgun.
Due to the alleged violation of federal laws, Conklin will be tried in a U.S. District Court in Ohio. The date has been pushed back to accommodate the flurry of motions flying back and forth. An order on April 29 sought to expedite the case to a courtroom by addressing several motions. It did not go well for Conklin.
Cosplaying a U.S. Marshal, Justified‑Style
On December 14, 2023, Conklin pulled over a vehicle to apprehend a person with an outstanding bench warrant. After ordering her out of her car at gunpoint, he searched her and locked her in the back of his vehicle, which had been altered to keep passengers detained. While Conklin later insisted the victim submitted to the detention because of his authority as an Ohio bail bondsman, she had a different version to tell the Westerville officers who soon arrived on the scene.
Why did the Westerville police department show up? Well, because Conklin had to call them after he discovered he’d locked his keys in the vehicle while placing his quarry in the back seat. When questioned, the victim stated that Conklin had claimed that he was a U.S. Marshal before taking her into custody. While the victim was on a probationary release, the outstanding warrant against her was for missing a municipal court date for traffic infractions. Bondsmen do not have the authority to conduct traffic stops, nor can they generally take someone into custody who isn’t facing felony charges.
Conklin denied the claim, showing police a badge from the Ohio Fugitive Apprehension Program, which turned out to be a nonprofit organization he had started after obtaining his bail bondsman license in June 2023. He made at least one more stop a month later, using lights and sirens to pull over someone who was “driving too slow.” Showing his “badge” to Columbus police officers, Conklin allegedly said he was “off-duty.” Body cams showed the responding officers questioning Conklin’s credentials, asking, “Is this guy real?” He also reportedly identified himself as a “federal officer: in a hardware store. He was arrested on January 21, 2024.
It wouldn’t be until January 2026, after a search warrant on his home executed by a SWAT unit, that Conklin would face federal charges. What was recovered from his computer during the raid would become part of the dueling motions that have marked the past few months.
Those Searches Might Be a Little Bit Suspicious
The bevy of motions covered in the latest order mostly focused on evidence. Conklin accused the government of dragging its feet in providing him with certain discovery materials. He also demanded access to the grand jury transcripts, claiming that prosecutors had failed to present exculpatory evidence (which they aren’t required to do in a grand jury proceeding). That was followed by reasoning that he needed the transcripts because they, in and of themselves, were exculpatory evidence. The contradicting claims didn’t land with Judge Algenon Marbley, who denied the motion. Judge Marbley had already denied Conklin’s attempt to have the government provide more details about the charges on April 16th.
Conklin fared slightly better on his browser history seized during the warrant, but not as well as he might have liked. While the judge ruled that the government could not use many of his search requests, five were ruled admissible. These were:
- “howbto [sic] determine if a us marshal is legit” (Feb. 19, 2023)
- “us marshals fugitive task force badge” (Apr. 15, 2023)
- “fake federal license plate” (May 7, 2023)
- “Ohio Code 2913.42 – Tampering with records” (July 20, 2023)
- “recite order in – summons not authorized” (Dec. 14, 2023) (multiple times)
Those might prove a bit difficult to explain away during proceedings.
Other motions granted to the government include prohibiting Conklin from admitting his own out-of-court, self-serving exculpatory statements, commenting on possible sentences he might receive if convicted, or arguing for jury nullification. Conklin did not oppose allowing Westerville Division of Police Detective Colin Phillips to be present at the prosecuting counsel’s table during the trial, despite his status as a witness who will testify.
The trial is currently set to begin in May. Whether the settling of in limine motions allows that to proceed as planned remains to be seen.
Related Resources
- Is It Constitutional To Impersonate a Cop After U.S. v. Alvarez? (FindLaw’s Courtside)
- Getting Pulled Over: Laws and Rights (FindLaw’s Traffic Stop Laws)
- Fleeing From Justice: What Can Happen? (FindLaw’s Law and Daily Life)
