ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- A former federal public affairs officer has been sentenced to seven years in prison for pretending to be an undercover CIA operative to persuade companies to give him millions of dollars.
Forty-four-year-old Garrison Courtney used to work as a spokesman for the Drug Enforcement Administration and before that for Republican congresswoman Katherine Harris of Florida.
Courtney convinced companies to give him more than $4 million to provide what was supposed to be off-the-books funding for his classified task force.
He duped numerous members of the military and intelligence communities into lending his scheme credence.
He apologized for his conduct at a sentencing hearing Friday in Alexandria.
