A man has been arrested on federal charges for allegedly using a forged signature of Chief Justice John Roberts on a fake Supreme Court order. The alleged aim was to have his Indiana criminal case dismissed, court documents reveal.
Joshua M. Culver, who reportedly used the alias Maverick A. Young, was taken into custody last Friday in Colorado. This followed an indictment by a federal grand jury in Indiana. He faces four counts of falsely impersonating a U.S. officer or employee and one count of using a forged federal judge’s signature and court seal.
Federal prosecutors claim Culver filed a document titled “Order of Dismissal With Prejudice” on September 24, 2025, in an active criminal case against him in Grant County Superior Court, Indiana. The document included a fake signature of Chief Justice Roberts and a counterfeit U.S. Supreme Court seal, supposedly to legitimize the dismissal order.
According to authorities, this attempt to falsify involvement with the nation’s highest court wasn’t Culver’s first scheme to impersonate a federal official. Five days before the alleged forgery associated with Roberts, Culver reportedly posed as a National Security Agency (NSA) agent when he contacted the Tippecanoe County Sheriff’s Office.
The indictment states Culver used fake authority as an NSA agent to make requests that were unlikely to be fulfilled otherwise. These included asking deputies to carry out a welfare check on his biological daughter and requesting information on her whereabouts.
Culver also allegedly sought personnel details of sheriff’s office employees and threatened the use of “adverse action” against the agency, claiming federal authority.
On September 20, 2025, Culver allegedly contacted the workplace of an individual identified only as “Individual A” in the indictment. Prosecutors assert he falsely identified himself as a federal agent and claimed the individual was obstructing a child kidnapping federal investigation. He reportedly threatened to have the person arrested for a federal felony and requested their employer’s cooperation.
In January 2026, Culver allegedly depicted himself as a “Special Master enforcing orders of the United States Supreme Court” in communication with the Lake County clerk, addressing a Superior Court judge. Prosecutors allege Culver demanded actions such as altering vital records and dismissing cases against him, asserting unfounded authority.
The indictment also claims Culver threatened officials with arrest for “impeding a federal agent, lying to a federal agent, and conspiracy” if they did not comply.
By February, Culver had allegedly adopted another false identity as “Director of Tailored Access Operations,” described in the indictment as a supposed intelligence agency role. Prosecutors allege he filed a document titled “OFFICIAL SENSITIVE: TAILORED ACCESS OPERATIONS (TAO) COMPLIANCE DIRECTIVE” in an ongoing case against him at Lake County Superior Court. This document allegedly demanded a case dismissal, the quashing of warrants, and cooperation with a so-called “federal audit.”
Bloomberg Law reports Culver was arrested on August 21, with the Office of the Federal Public Defender for the District of Colorado appointed to represent him.
Efforts by Fox News Digital to obtain comments from the Supreme Court’s Public Information Office, the Office of the Federal Public Defender for the District of Colorado, and the Justice Department are ongoing.