FLINT, MI - The first fake cop who patrolled with a group of other wanna-be imposters who held people at gunpoint and detained others in handcuffs was sentenced on Monday.

Jeffrey L. Jones, 29, of Flint, was sentenced to five years of probation on Sept. 17 by Genesee Circuit Judge Celeste Bell.

Jones' sentence was a part of a plea deal with Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton that included no upfront jail time and ordered Jones turn over all the equipment he used while acting as a fake cop.

"I'd just like to apologize," Jones told the court. "I know I made bad choices and I'd just like to ask for a second chance. I promise this will not happen again. I let my family down when I got involved in this. I let a lot of people down."

Jones and four others who were part of the Genesee County Fire and EMS Media-Genesee County Task Force Blight Agency were acting as police at locations that include county parks, house fires, vehicle crashes and crime scenes.

The five charged with acting as fake cops for years, dressed like real officers, had badges, handcuffs and guns, drove vehicles with emergency lights and would tell people they were the police, investigators previously said.

Jones pleaded guilty to a charge of impersonating a police officer, which Bell said was a four-year felony.

"I find the charges extremely disturbing," Bell said. "Taking the law into your own hands the way these charges have read - taking people in custody, armed in Genesee County parks -- I'm extremely offended by that behavior. However, out of respect for the prosecutor's office and if they wish to resolve the cases in this fashion, I'm going to adopt that recommendation."

Jones was given credit for 119 days in jail.

An investigation into the group was launched after Genesee County Parks police Chief Kevin Shanlian received a complaint of rude rangers at Stepping Stone Falls and Picnic Area in Genesee on Sept. 21, 2017.

He investigated the incident because the victims thought they were being mistreated by park rangers, but Shanlian soon learned the victims were actually dealing with fake cops.

Jones, along with Emily Burrison and Auston Rose, also were charged in connection to the incident at the park.

The three individuals who are charged dressed like police officers and approached two people at Stepping Stone Falls and Picnic Area.

The group of fake cops said the people were trespassing, the park was closed and they were under arrest despite the fact the park was actually open.

Both victims were handcuffed and the fake police demanded their driver's licenses. Information from the licenses was entered into a laptop inside the suspects' vehicle, which Leyton said had a police light bar on top of it.

The victims were told they were being placed on a criminal watch list database, before getting the handcuffs taken off and receiving their licenses back.

Willie Strong, Rose and Burrison also are charged with holding a group of teens at gunpoint and then handcuffing the kids after they broke into Flint Central High School on July 2.

Rose and Austin Erwin also were charged in connection to another incident that took place on Court Street in front of Mott Community College on Sept. 29.

A man and his girlfriend got into an argument. When the woman got out of her boyfriend's vehicle, she said she was pushed.

An unmarked vehicle pulled up and Rose and Erwin are accused of placing the pair in handcuffs.

Both men got out of what appeared to be an unmarked police cruiser dressed like SWAT team members, investigators said last month.

Leyton previously said the deals with the five impersonators was in the best interest of justice.

"I don't think these folks are public enemy number one," Leyton previously said. "I think that they were very misguided. I believe they felt they were trying to help the community."