A former police officer who owned Polygraph.com pleaded guilty on Wednesday to helping people lie and cover up crimes during polygraph examinations.
Douglas Williams, a 69-year-old former Oklahoma City police officer, admitted to advertising his services to help people beat the lie detector test when questioned by police or intelligence agencies.
{mosads}In a video on YouTube video posted last year, Williams called himself “the only licensed polygraph examiner to ever tell the truth about the so-called lie detector, and the truth is the polygraph is not a lie detector.”
“I can teach you how to pass, nervous or not, no matter what,” he added in the video. “Before you take a polygraph test, you must get properly prepared … I will get you ready to pass your polygraph test and you will not have to be frightened or nervous about taking it.”
Among other charges, Williams admitted to having trained two people who were undercover posing as a federal airport inspector and applicant for a border patrol agent.
“Lying, deception and fraud cannot be allowed to influence the hiring of national security and law enforcement officials, particularly when it might affect the security of our borders,” Leslie Caldwell, the assistant attorney general of the Justice Department’s criminal division, said in a statement. “Today’s conviction sends a message that we pursue those who attempt to corrupt law enforcement wherever and however they may try to do so.”
Polygraph machines are notoriously unreliable; it is against the law to teach someone to cheat on a test with one administered by the government.