Wannabe federal agent and bounty hunter 'Commander Hammond AKA The Crimson Wolf' convicted

For over a year, an Ohio man posing as a federal agent and bounty hunter kidnapped people for reward money, according to federal prosecutors.

Shane Ryan Hammond, 26, of Hilliard pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court to impersonating a federal agent, kidnapping, wire fraud and interstate transportation of a stolen vehicle.

Hammond owned the Columbus-based "Midwest Fugitive Task Force," court documents state. Despite not being a licensed bounty hunter, he solicited business as a bail recovery agent.

"On at least nine occasions, Hammond knowingly and unlawfully kidnapped a person for reward," the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a press release. "All of these individuals were considered 'bail skips.'”

After failing to appear in court on these charges in January, real federal agents uncovered the wire fraud and stolen vehicle incident. Prosecutors said Hammond defrauded investors of more than $48,000 by telling them he had secured a $79 million government contract. He also borrowed the truck of one of the investors and re-registered in West Virginia under his own name.

“Hammond would often dress in an all-black tactical uniform with a black ballistic vest,” U.S. Attorney Ben Glassman said. “He typically carried multiple handguns, throwing knives, a Taser and usually one or two law-enforcement-style badges with ‘SWAT’ shoulder patches and a large back patch reading ‘AGENT.’ But he was absolutely not a federal agent – or a law enforcement officer of any kind.”

Here are a few of the examples from prosecutors:

In Sept. 2016, he forcibly entered a woman's home in Canton pointing a rifle at her. Claiming to be a federal bounty hunter, he handcuffed her and told her she had the right to remain silent. He then handcuffed the woman's husband and took him away from the home until the next morning.

In March 2017, he told a woman near Cincinnati, “you realize lying to a federal agent is a crime” and then, “don’t lie to a federal agent, that’s four years in jail.” He also threatened to arrest her. The U.S. Attorney's Office pointed out that impersonating a federal agent can get a person five years in prison.

That March, Hammond also convinced the management of Canton apartment to release Department of Housing and Urban Development records to him by claiming he was “Commander Hammond with the U.S. Government Fugitive Task Force.”

In May 2017, Hammond charged after a man with an AK-47 inside the man's grandmother house. He told the man not to do "anything stupid" or he would get hurt.

A Facebook page apparently belonging to Hammond shows a man wearing a vest bearing the name Commander Hammond. The creator of the page is listed as "Shane Ryan Hammond (the crimson wolf)"

In a photo on the Facebook page, the man is holding an AR-15 style rifle and a fake badge. The Facebook page "intro" reads: "I fear no man for I am the baddest motherf***** that walks."