Sterling Carter

Sterling Carter was a former staffer of United States representative Brad Schneider who impersonated an FBI agent in November 2020, and after a lengthy manhunt, was arrested in January 2021. Carter was also found to be embezzling thousands of dollars from Schneider's office. He was convicted in July 2022 and was sentenced to 9 months in prison.

## Biography and career

Sterling Devion Carter was born in mid-1997, and was raised in Glenwood, Georgia. He eventually moved to the Washington, D.C. area. Around August 2019, Carter found work as a "director of operations" for the offices of representative Brad Schneider, who represented Illinois's 10th congressional district. In this position, Carter oversaw budgets and payrolls for his office.

According to neighbors, Carter would occasionally dress up and act like a police officer, and referred to his car as his "work vehicle". In the year prior to the FBI impersonation, Carter began collecting police paraphernalia.

### Embezzlement

Beginning in October 2019, Carter began submitting fake documents on which he had forged Schneider's signature. These documents authorized a higher salary and pay bonuses for himself. By January 13, 2021, when he resigned from his position, Carter had embezzled a total of $79,491.67 and had more than doubled his salary. These practices were not discovered until after his arrest for the FBI impersonation.

## FBI impersonation

On November 14, 2020, wide-scale protests were taking place in Washington, D.C., in the aftermath of Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 US presidential election. Carter had outfitted his blue Ford Taurus to look like a police vehicle, including installing a laptop mount, a spotlight, a metal barrier to separate the front and back seats, and placing emergency lights on the roof.

When he arrived at the location of the protests, Carter donned a black shirt that read "FEDERAL AGENT" and wore multiple police accessories including a holstered Glock pistol. He also wore a cap and a facemask, making it hard to identify him. Several bystanders reportedly thanked him for service. Two plain-clothes police officers, who were monitoring protesters, noticed Carter's vehicle nearby. As the license plate did not match with other police vehicles, they deemed it suspicious, and ran it, returning no results. Several uniformed officers approached Carter and questioned him. When he failed to produce identification, he proceeded to enter his car, activate the emergency lights, and drive away. The officers initially attempted to pursue him, bicycling after his car for several blocks before stopping.

### Manhunt

A several-weeks-long manhunt ensued, and the FBI, Capitol Police, DC Metropolitan police, and Secret Service were involved in the search. Carter maintained a low profile, though he was active on Facebook as late as January 6, 2021.

One investigator, named "A. Pascual" in news reports, attempted to pin down where Carter had purchased his various police accessories, and discovered several online shops that sold the items. They were able to identify him, and found he was staying with his family in Georgia.

### Arrest and investigation

On January 1, 2021, police forced entry into Carter's home and searched it, discovering the pistol and other accessories he had worn at the protest. Several days later, Carter was taken into custody. He was eventually bailed out on April 4, 2021. Hearing of his arrest, Brad Schneider's office ordered Carter to either resign from his position or be fired. Carter chose to resign, and did so on January 13.

In the aftermath of Carter's resignation, investigators began uncovering evidence of embezzlement. This charge was added, and he faced a maximum of 10 years in prison.

## Court proceedings and trial

In February 2022, Carter was formally charged with impersonating an FBI agent and embezzling funds. In April, he pleaded guilty to all charges. On July 28, Carter was sentenced to 9 months in prison followed by 36 months of supervised release, as well as being fined $80,491 in restitutions.

## Citations

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 https://www.lakemchenryscanner.com/2022/08/14/former-staffer-of-u-s-rep-brad-schneider-gets-9-months-in-prison-after-stealing-taxpayer-money-impersonating-fbi/
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-a-democratic-congressional-staffer-faked-being-an-fbi-agent-and-became-a-fugitive