A man accused of submitting a fake U.S. Supreme Court order bearing a forged signature of Chief Justice John Roberts in an alleged bid to derail his own Indiana criminal case has been arrested on federal charges, court records show.
Joshua M. Culver, who authorities say has also gone by the name “Maverick A. Young,” was taken into custody Friday in Colorado after a federal grand jury in Indiana returned an indictment charging him with four counts of falsely impersonating a U.S. officer or employee and one count tied to the alleged use of a forged federal judge’s signature and court seal.
Prosecutors say Culver filed a document labeled “Order of Dismissal With Prejudice” on Sept. 24, 2025, in a criminal matter pending against him in Grant County Superior Court in Indiana.
The indictment alleges the filing included a counterfeit U.S. Supreme Court seal and a forged signature purporting to be Roberts’ in an effort to make the supposed dismissal order appear legitimate.
Federal authorities say the alleged Supreme Court forgery was not the first time Culver attempted to present himself as a government official.
Just five days earlier, prosecutors allege, Culver contacted the Tippecanoe County Sheriff’s Office while falsely claiming to be an agent with the National Security Agency.
According to the indictment, Culver invoked that alleged NSA authority to make requests prosecutors say the sheriff’s office would not otherwise have granted, including asking deputies to perform a welfare check on his biological daughter and disclose details about her whereabouts.
Culver is also accused of seeking names and other information about sheriff’s office employees while claiming he had the power, as a purported NSA agent, to take “adverse action” against the department.
The following day, on Sept. 20, 2025, Culver allegedly called the workplace of an individual identified in the indictment only as “Individual A.”
Prosecutors say he falsely identified himself as a federal agent, claimed the person was “obstructing a federal investigation of a child kidnapping” and represented that he could have the individual arrested for committing a federal felony.
He also allegedly asked the person’s employer to intervene to obtain the individual’s cooperation.
Months later, in January 2026, Culver allegedly portrayed himself as a “Special Master enforcing orders of the United States Supreme Court” in a communication sent to the Lake County clerk and directed to a Superior Court judge.
Prosecutors allege Culver claimed he had the authority to issue orders and warrants while demanding that the judge and court personnel take several actions, including making changes to vital records and dismissing cases and judgments against him.
The indictment alleges Culver also warned that if officials failed to comply, he and US Marshals would make arrests for “impeding a federal agent, lying to a federal agent, and conspiracy.”
Then, in February, Culver allegedly assumed yet another federal identity, this time portraying himself as the “Director of Tailored Access Operations,” which the indictment describes as a purported intelligence agency.
Prosecutors allege Culver filed a document titled “OFFICIAL SENSITIVE: TAILORED ACCESS OPERATIONS (TAO) COMPLIANCE DIRECTIVE” in Lake County Superior Court in a case pending against him.
The document, which purported to bear official letterhead, allegedly described Culver as a “federal asset” involved in multiple investigations and demanded that officials take a series of actions under a purported “federal directive.”
Those demands included dismissing the case against Culver with prejudice, quashing warrants and requiring Lake County officials to cooperate with a purported “federal audit,” according to the indictment.
Bloomberg Law reported that Culver was arrested Aug. 21 and that the Office of the Federal Public Defender for the District of Colorado was appointed to represent him.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Supreme Court’s Public Information Office, the Office of the Federal Public Defender for the District of Colorado and the Justice Department for comment.
