Monroe Woman Who Posed As An FBI Agent On Dating Websites Is Sentenced To Prison

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – U.S. Attorney Andrew Murray announced today that Riane Leigh Brownlee, 39, of Monroe, N.C., 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 today’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.  In making today’s announcement, U.S. Attorney Murray thanked the FBI and Claremont Police Department for their investigation of this case.

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In a separate case, Judge Bell sentenced Curtis Andre Imes, 38, of Statesville, to 54 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.  According to court records, on May 23, 2019, law enforcement conducted a traffic stop of the vehicle Imes was driving.  Imes’ vehicle matched the description of a vehicle involved in an incident earlier in the day, during which the driver had allegedly pointed a firearm at several people gathered near a school.  According to court records, when law enforcement pulled over Imes, he attempted to flee on foot but was quickly apprehended. When officers conducted an inventory of Imes’ vehicle, they located a firearm under the driver’s seat, and crack cocaine and marijuana in the center console. Imes has prior felony convictions for Assault with Deadly Weapon Inflicting Serious Injury, Robbery, and Possession of Firearm by Felon, and he is prohibited from possessing a firearm.

Imes will be transferred to the custody of the federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility.  All federal sentences are served without the possibility of parole. 

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in coordination with the Statesville Police Department conducted the investigation.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven R. Kaufman prosecuted the Brownlee case and represented the Government for the Imes case on behalf of Assistant U.S. Attorney Lambert Guinn, who handled the prosecution.