Woman impersonating FBI agent on dating websites sentenced to federal prison for 37 months

On April 23, Riane Leigh Brownlee, 39, of Monroe, North Carolina, was sentenced to 37 months in prison for impersonating an FBI agent and illegally possessing a firearm. U.S. District Judge Kenneth D. Bell also ordered Brownlee to serve three years under court supervision upon completion of her prison term. 

According to filed court documents and Thursday’s sentencing hearing, Brownlee, who is also known as “Raine Leigh Webb,” and “Alexandria Mancini,” posted on dating websites photographs of herself posing with a fake FBI badge and a firearm. On February 23, 2019, Brownlee falsely told an individual with whom she met on a date that she was an FBI agent conducting a counter-drug operation.

After Brownlee was arrested later the same day, she falsely told the same individual that she had to keep her identity secret from law enforcement because she was operating undercover.  Court records show that, in addition to the fake FBI badge, law enforcement recovered from the stolen vehicle Brownlee was driving a stolen loaded firearm, and a fake FBI ID bearing Brownlee’s photograph and the name “FBI Special Agent Alexandria Mancini.”

Brownlee has multiple prior felony convictions, including Identity Theft, Felony Worthless Checks, and Possession of Stolen Motor Vehicle, and she is prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition.

Brownlee is currently in federal custody.  The FBI and the Claremont Police Department worked together to oversee the investigation.

(Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of North Carolina)

Posted by: Richard Webster, Ace News Today   /   Follow Richard on Facebook and Twitter