Ex-Oklahoma investigator sentenced in false credential case
Ponca City Now - August 17, 2016 11:41 am
EL RENO, Okla. (AP) – A former Oklahoma Veterans Affairs Department chief investigator who faked his credentials and was actually a convicted felon has been sentenced to five years in prison and ordered to get a psychological evaluation.
The Oklahoman (http://bit.ly/2b438qa) reports that 43-year-old Steven Pancoast Jr. was also sentenced to 10 years of probation on Tuesday. He had pleaded guilty in February to 24 criminal counts, including forgery and perjury.
Authorities say Pancoast carried a counterfeit badge and forged law enforcement credentials, business cards and diplomas from Oklahoma State University and Southwestern Oklahoma State University.
Pancoast was fired after authorities determined that he wasn't a state-certified law enforcement officer. Court records show Pancoast spent almost three years in prison in New Jersey after two arrests for larceny and a weapons offense.
