A former Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent convicted of lying during his national security background check about owning a strip club and having a romantic relationship with a Brazilian dancer will spend no time in prison, according to a Department of Justice (DOJ) news release.
Paul Gardephe, a U.S. district judge for the Southern District Of New York, sentenced renegade former DEA agent David Polos Thursday to one year of probation, 250 hours of community service, and $5,300 in penalties in connection with his operation of the Twins Plus Go-Go-Lounge — sometimes on official time — with another former DEA agent, Glen Glover.
Glover, who was also convicted of lying about his side gig during his national security background check, faces sentencing Friday. Federal sentencing guidelines only allowed the judge to sentence Polos up to six months, according to Reuters, and Polos’ lawyer argued that his public shaming was sufficient punishment.
“I stand before you today as a disgraced husband, an outcast in my own profession, and ashamed to be in my own skin,” Polos told Gardephe in court.
The DEA allowed Polos to retire from his job as an assistant special agent-in-charge in 2015, according to NJ.com, and suspended Glover, according to the New York Times.
Polos and Glover purchased the club in 2010, according to court documents The Daily Caller News Foundation Investigative Group obtained last year. (RELATED: DEA Supervisor Bungled Investigation By Allegedly Having Sex With Paid Informant)
The DEA workers also did some strip club business on government time. Polos sent club-related texts from his DEA work phone, including one Aug. 18, 2011, saying, “bring your cooler to the bar,” and another on the same date saying, “we need to move ice machine,” according to the court records.
Polos also used his DEA equipment to level threats at the club. Polos, during an argument with an unnamed colleague’s wife, lifted up his pant leg, pointed to the gun on his ankle, and said, “this is the boss. I am the boss,” the documents said.
Many of the club’s dancers were illegal immigrants, according to court documents, including one Brazilian dancer with whom Polos had a close, personal relationship.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara implied that the courts served Polos justice, despite the criminal’s lenient sentence.
“David Polos, a former supervisory DEA agent, was sentenced today for lying on his national security forms,” Bharara said in the DOJ news release. “Even more so than others, federal agents, sworn to enforce the law, must first obey it themselves. Polos violated his oath and broke the law. He now stands a convicted felon.”
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