The FBI has released more information following a standoff and arrest in the Upstate, last week. As we previously reported, agents responded to a hotel in Greenville last Friday to serve a federal warrant.
The suspect has now been identified as, 40 year old Michael J. French of Pendelton. The agency says French 1st refused to come out, he then flashed a firearm and threatened to harm himself. After crisis negotiators were called in, French was taken into custody after a peaceful surrender.
French appeared in federal court Thursday. He was already wanted on a list of charges including communication of an interstate threat and cyberstalking.
Those charges came after French allegedly forged a government document that said that charges against him by the Securities and Exchange Commission had been dropped.
The SEC accuses French of running a Ponzi scheme that swindled investors out of more than 20 million dollars.