Columbus, Georgia authorities once again have arrested a man who has a history of impersonating federal law enforcement agents.

Robert Allen Earhart Jr. was arrested at the federal courthouse in downtown Columbus around 2 p.m. Wednesday after he allegedly called the U.S. attorney’s office claiming to be a CIA agent and requesting a meeting. The FBI set up the meeting, and agents swarmed Earhart when he came to the courthouse, authorities said.

Earhart, 38, last made headlines in 2019, when he went to the Muscogee County Jail, told staff there he was a DEA agent, and tried to get some inmates released. He afterward led law enforcement on an extended car chase before he was captured.

Represented by a federal public defender, Earhart was back before a judge Thursday, accused of impersonating an officer or employee of the U.S. government. Assistant U.S. Attorney Amy Helmick said he faces a maximum of three years in prison and a $250,000 fine, if convicted.

According to prosecutors, Earhart called U.S. Attorney Peter Leary on Jan. 11, leaving a voicemail in which he requested a meeting about “shadowing” staff in Leary’s office.

An FBI agent called Earhart back on Feb. 3, when Earhart allegedly made these claims:

— An ex-girlfriend was embezzling his paycheck from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

— The ex-girlfriend took his badges, but new ones were being sent from Atlanta.

— He was working on a case involving suspects stealing $2.5 million from the federal government.

— He had warrants he needed a judge to sign when he came to the courthouse.

— He was a “special investigator” with badge No. 0484 who believed he “has the law enforcement side down” but wanted to be sure he was handling the warrants correctly.

U.S. Magistrate Court Judge Stephen Hyles ordered Earhart held in confinement as the case proceeds.

The history

Earhart’s defense attorney in 2019 said his client developed drug abuse and mental health issues after he was accused of killing his infant daughter in Alabama in 2015.

He went to trial in Opelika in 2017, and was convicted of negligent homicide, a misdemeanor. Sentenced to a year, he soon was released with credit for the time he’d already spent in jail.

He afterward started telling police he was a federal agent, sometimes claiming he was trying to rescue an ex-wife who had been kidnapped.

On May 1, 2019, after the Muscogee County Sheriff got an FBI tip that Earhart could be a threat to law enforcement, Earhart walked into the jail “in an aggressive manner” about 9 p.m., claiming to be with the DEA and ordering the release of three inmates, authorities said.

After jail workers recognized him and summoned deputies on patrol, Earhart left in a 2014 Honda Accord and sped off when they tried to stop him a few blocks away at Veterans Parkway and 12th Street.

The 40-minute pursuit reached speeds of more than 100 mph and involved Columbus and Phenix City police and deputies from Muscogee County, Russell County and Harris County. Earhart fled north from downtown, west to Phenix City, then back into north Columbus and briefly into Harris County, before crashing on Blackmon Road, authorities said.

In November 2019, he was in Muscogee Superior court facing almost 30 misdemeanors — most of them traffic offenses from his police chase — and seven felonies, three of them impersonating a law enforcement officer. He pleaded guilty to around a dozen counts, some reduced, with the rest dismissed.

Earhart was sentenced to 10 years’ probation. He was to remain jailed until he entered a rehabilitation program.

His defense attorney at the time, Mark Post, told the court then that Earhart had significant mental health issues stemming from the post-traumatic stress of being jailed in his daughter’s death.

A psychological evaluation determined Earhart was competent to stand trial, but he had a “psychosis” that caused the delusion of being a federal agent, Post said.

Earhart’s Superior Court prosecutor detailed other encounters the suspect had with law enforcement:

— Sept. 8, 2018: Earhart tried to break through the door of a Greenridge Drive residence where police found him sitting shirtless in his car, sweating profusely. Claiming to be a DEA agent, he told officers he was trying to rescue a woman being held inside the house. The woman he named was an ex-wife.

— Dec. 18, 2018: Police were called to question Earhart in downtown Columbus, he told them a downtown automotive shop had put some “type of equipment” in his gas tank; that being blamed for his child’s death was a conspiracy; that he was a CIA informant; and that he had been recruited by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

— Jan. 10, 2019: A Bradford Drive resident told police Earhart kept driving by and accusing him of kidnapping his ex-wife. Earhart passed by in a black Honda while officers were there, told them he was a federal agent, and drove away.

This story was originally published February 9, 2023, 2:54 PM.

___

(c)2023 the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer (Columbus, Ga.)

Visit the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer (Columbus, Ga.) at www.ledger-enquirer.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.