Steve Farzam, who has a decades-long history of impersonating public safety officers, pleaded no contest Monday to a reduced set of charges stemming from accusations he posed as a firefighter during the Palisades Fire and repeatedly targeted aircraft with a laser, according to Los Angeles County court records.
Farzam, 46, entered nolo contendere pleas to 11 of the original 28 counts filed against him, with prosecutors dismissing the remaining charges as part of a plea negotiation. Judge Eleanor J. Hunter sentenced Farzam to three years of formal probation, with execution of his prison sentence suspended.
Under the terms of the agreement, Farzam was convicted on multiple felony counts including discharging a laser at an occupied aircraft, assault with a deadly weapon, impersonation of a public officer, carrying a loaded firearm in public, and six counts of perjury by declaration. A charge of assault with a deadly weapon on a peace officer or firefighter with great bodily injury likely — which carried some of the case's most serious exposure — was among those dismissed.
As conditions of his probation, Farzam must not contact victims or witnesses directly or through a third party, may not own or possess any dangerous or deadly weapons, must submit to searches of his person and property, and is required to make restitution to victims. He must also obey all laws and court orders and may only identify himself using his legal name.
Farzam was arrested last year and charged with 28 counts spanning incidents between 2022 and mid-2025. Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman announced the charges, saying the case reflected a pattern of conduct that endangered lives.
"This defendant's alleged actions reflect a disturbing pattern of lawlessness and disregard for public safety," Hochman said in a statement at that time. "Over the course of more than a year, he is accused of repeatedly putting lives at risk, from impersonating a firefighter during an active wildfire to assaulting a first responder and targeting aircraft with a laser."
Among the most serious allegations, Farzam allegedly posed as a firefighter on Jan. 16 and 17, 2025, during the Palisades Fire, gaining access to restricted emergency zones and interfering with emergency operations. He also faces accusations of firing a laser at occupied aircraft on multiple occasions between February and April 2025, and of assaulting a peace officer or firefighter with a weapon under circumstances likely to cause great bodily injury.
Additional counts alleged Farzam committed perjury by declaration on multiple occasions between September 2022 and early 2024, and that he carried a loaded, unregistered handgun in public in September 2024 while impersonating a public officer. A charge of possessing a destructive device on a public street, filed after his July 2025 arrest date, was dismissed by the court in October 2025 after a judge found insufficient cause.
The case is the latest chapter in a criminal history stretching back nearly three decades.
Farzam's earliest known incident occurred in 1999, when Santa Barbara County authorities arrested him for impersonating a police officer and perjury while he was attempting to become a deputy sheriff. He accepted a plea deal on lesser charges, including providing false information on DMV documents and unlawful vehicle registration.
Three years later, the Los Angeles City Attorney filed a 19-count complaint charging him with impersonating a firefighter. Farzam was convicted in 2003 on five misdemeanor counts.
His legal troubles escalated sharply in 2014, when a multi-agency investigation involving the California Attorney General's eCrime Unit, the ATF, FBI and DMV. Investigators seized 16 firearms, 12 emergency radios, 43 forged law enforcement badges and a fully-marked California Highway Patrol cruiser outfitted with emergency lights. The state filed 77 criminal counts, nearly all felonies.
Farzam pleaded no contest in 2015 to three felonies — impersonating a peace officer, possession of an illegal assault weapon and unauthorized access of a computer system — and was sentenced to 182 days in jail with credit for time served. In 2022, those convictions were reduced to misdemeanors and expunged following completion of his sentence conditions.
Between 2017 and 2019, Farzam was also accused of submitting a forged Los Angeles Superior Court order purporting to seal his 2015 case records, allegedly in an effort to prevent publication of a magazine exposé on his misconduct history. He pleaded no contest to three felony charges in that case as well.