A Middlesex County man was sentenced to 18 months in prison on Jan. 26 for making false statements to United States government agencies.
Gulshan Manko, 37, of Woodbridge, pleaded guilty on Aug. 30, 2021, by videoconference before Chief U.S. District Judge Freda L. Wolfson to an information charging him with one count of making false statements to federal agents. He also pleaded guilty on Sept. 11, 2019, to Count Two of an indictment charging him with making false statements in a separate case, according to information provided by U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger.
According to documents filed in these cases and statements made in court, Manko submitted an application, referred to as an SF-86 Form, for employment as a federal agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration. Manko submitted fictitious academic transcripts from two higher education institutions located in New Jersey and represented that he had graduated from these two academic institutions. Manko made these statements in his employment application knowing that they were false in an attempt to gain employment with the DEA.
In the earlier case, Manko made false statements during a criminal investigation, including falsely asserting that he had shredded a government identification card, according to the statement.
In addition to the prison term, Wolfson sentenced Manko to two years of supervised release.