Ex-marshal charged in diploma mill case

SPOKANE -- A former deputy U.S. marshal accused of using a bogus college degree to get a $16,000-a-year job promotion is the first customer charged in an expanding federal investigation of an alleged Spokane-based diploma mill.

David Floyd Brodhagen, who retired Dec. 23 from the Marshals Service, was charged four days later with making and delivering as true a statement knowing it contained false information.

In addition, new court filings allege that Dixie and Steve Randock, of Colbert, counterfeited and sold degrees and transcripts from some of the largest universities in the United States, in addition to cranking out degrees from 125 fictitious schools.

The Randocks are accused of using a Spokane print shop and a rented basement office in Post Falls, Idaho, to sell counterfeit degrees from the University of Maryland, the University of Tennessee, Texas A&M and George Washington University.

The Randocks face a June trial on federal charges of conspiracy, wire fraud and money laundering. Investigators allege the operation took in $5 million.

Brodhagen, 47, is the first person charged among the estimated 6,000 customers who bought degrees from the Randocks, officials from the Justice Department said Monday.