Dodge County Man Sentenced to Prison For Impersonating an Officer

St. Paul, MN (KROC-AM News) - A Dodge County man was sentenced to six years in federal prison Thursday for impersonating a federal officer and illegal possession of a firearm.

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Prosecutors said the FBI received information that 53-year-old Reyel Simmons was pretending to be a federal agent with the United States Department of Homeland Security in August of 2021. Simmons created a TikTok account and used a profile photo that showed him wearing law enforcement gear and made several posts displaying law enforcement equipment, badges, and firearms, and “referring explicitly and implicitly to himself as a federal agent.”

Court records show that Simmons routinely had a backpack that he referred to as his “go bag”, which had the department emblem of the Department of Homeland Security and contained a Glock handgun, a fake Department of Homeland Security badge, and other items related to Simmons’s supposed service in law enforcement and the military.

Law enforcement seized eight firearms from Simmons’ residence, including assault rifles and sniper rifles, that were kept in a bunker and could be accessed through a hidden doorway located in a storage area of the basement.

Simmons also admitted to possessing unregistered silencers, detonating cord containing the explosive pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN), a blasting cap, thousands of rounds of ammunition, body armor with law enforcement emblems affixed to it, and other law enforcement style badges, clothing, bags, and identification documents.

Simmons pleaded guilty to one count of impersonating an officer of the United States and one count of possessing firearms as a felon in January 2022.