Former deputy arrested for impersonating DEA agent, officials say Ex-deputy pretended to be agent to coerce man's wife into halting divorce
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – A former Seminole County sheriff's deputy was arrested after officials say he impersonated a Drug Enforcement Administration agent.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said former deputy Don Wheeler impersonated a DEA agent to coerce Michael Maine's wife into halting divorce proceedings.
Wheeler and Maine created counterfeit DEA credentials for Wheeler, who then called associates of Maine’s wife claiming she was involved in drug trafficking and that the DEA had an active criminal investigation into her involvement, according to a release.
Wheeler was not an officer at the time of the incident and had resigned in 2005 from Seminole County Sheriff's Office.
Maine and Wheeler were arrested on extortion, conspiracy to commit extortion, unlawful use of a two-way communications device and falsely personating an officer. Maine also is charged with forgery.
The duo faces more than 30 years in prison.
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