Indiana man charged with forging Supreme Court chief justice's signature to quash his own case
Joshua M. Culver, also known as Maverick A. Young, was arrested in Colorado after a federal grand jury indicted him for impersonating federal officers and using a forged court document. Prosecutors allege he filed a fake Supreme Court dismissal order with a forged Chief Justice John Roberts signature and counterfeit seal in his Indiana criminal case. He also reportedly posed as an NSA agent to request a welfare check and location information about his daughter from a sheriff's office.
The indictment outlines a multi-stage scheme spanning several months, beginning with Culver's alleged impersonation of an NSA agent to a county sheriff's office, where he reportedly requested a welfare check on his daughter and sought employee information while threatening "adverse action." The following day, he allegedly contacted an individual's employer, claiming the person was obstructing a federal child kidnapping investigation.
Culver's alleged conduct escalated in January 2026 when he reportedly identified himself as a "Special Master" enforcing Supreme Court orders. The forged dismissal document, filed in his pending Grant County case, carried a counterfeit court seal alongside Roberts' signature, representing an attempt to leverage the highest court's authority in a local criminal proceeding.
This case could underscore vulnerabilities in how courts and local agencies verify official communications, potentially prompting stricter authentication protocols for judicial documents and law enforcement requests. It may also highlight the growing challenge of individuals exploiting institutional trust through impersonation, affecting public confidence in legal processes. Victims of such schemes—including court staff, sheriff's deputies, and private citizens—may face wasted resources and emotional distress, while the broader justice system could see increased scrutiny of its verification procedures.