This Teen Allegedly Impersonated A Senator For Weeks And Nobody Noticed

One Ohio teenager pulled a prank that may land him in prison, according to Huffington Post. In a classic "Catch Me If You Can" move, Izaha Akins, 18, allegedly impersonated a state senator, using his fake persona to give a lecture to a high school class.

After hearing about an upcoming visit that state Senator David Burke would make to an American government class at Sycamore's Mohawk High School in January, Akins reportedly called the class's teacher and offered his own services. He lied about Burke's resignation, saying the senator was leaving office due to an illness and that Akins would be taking over his position, making him the youngest state senator in US history.

Naturally, the teacher, Henry Stobbs, asked Akins why he hadn't heard of the switch-out. Apparently, Akins convinced him the news hadn't broken yet, that he was the second choice to replace Burke and the first choice had dropped out. Based on that phone call alone, Stobbs gave Akins the OK to come and teach the class.

After rescheduling the lecture date from January to December, the teen allegedly found a few extras to stand in as his aides and got a car from a local dealership to make his arrival seem more legitimate. Using his own ID card to sign into the school, Akins went on a tour of the school and gave students a lecture about "being active in politics."

And if that wasn't crazy enough, authorities didn't catch wind of this elaborate stunt until Senator Burke showed up in January to give his scheduled lecture. Burke said in a statement to The Courier,

This is an extremely elaborate scheme and not as simple as walking through the door. When I heard about this, the school and I immediately began working with law enforcement.

Akins apparently pulled the stunt as part of a research paper he was writing about school security in rural districts. As he explained to The Toledo Blade,

I was duping to prove a point, that these kinds of things can happen. They could easily have Googled me and they didn't.

Consider your point proven, dude. Akins was arrested on February 10 and faces two felony charges for impersonating a peace officer and telecommunications fraud.

Citations: Teen Allegedly Posed As A State Senator And No One Noticed For Weeks (Huffington Post)