Sterling Devion Carter, a University of Georgia graduate, was offered a position on the staff of Illinois Democrat Rep. Brad Schneider in 2019. Other than a short stint as a baseball umpire in Georgia, it was Carter’s first job out of college. Carter was 21 years old, and Capitol Hill was his first job. Although Carter had gone from youth umpire to freshman staffer, one of Carter’s assigned duties was the important job of overseeing staff payroll. Carter was “the guy” for payroll of all staff positions, including chief of staff.
Carter spotted a job opportunity and took the position. Carter was a thief. He started stealing. He didn’t lift money from the petty cash drawer or take coffee packets from the commissary; Carter took money by paying himself more than his salary authorized. He did a lot more. Carter was able to increase his pay by more than $138,000. In just one year. And that didn’t even include the $6,000 he paid himself in one month. Carter did it by simply forging the signature of the congressman’s chief of staff.
Carter’s fraud might have gone on for many more months, maybe years but Carter wasn’t just stealing money, he was stealing a “secret identity.” In a story first reported in the Daily Beast, while Carter was stealing money from US taxpayers he was busy impersonating a federal agent.
There were protests in Washington DC 10 days following the 2020 presidential election. Carter was on the street standing next to his Ford — a car he had bought with his “pay increase” and which he had decked out with fake blue police lights and a pretty good fake federal license plate. To hide his identity, he was dressed in a baseball cap with a mask and was carrying a concealed Glock 19. On his shirt, it read: “Federal Agent.” Two cops noticed Carter and noted his weird way of avoiding everyone in law enforcement. They also noticed that his handgun reload magazines were right next to his gun — an amateur’s spot to place them. The smell of rat was overwhelming. The federal agent approached Carter, and he asked them for their ID. Carter got into his fake police car and turned his lights on, before speeding off. The feds gave chase on bikes but gave up because…they were on bikes.
Carter was not the real police officer and his plates and car were fakes so they had to use deductions and other methods of investigation. They tracked down the fake plate using SignandTagsOnline.com. They traced Carter’s shirt to the shop. Carter was wearing a shirt made by one of the police officers. After asking for the records of the seller, the feds reduced the list. Carter was the only one who could match both the shirt and plates.
On New Year’s Day 2021, Secret Service agents raided Carter’s home and found his Glock 19, extra magazines and ammo, and, remarkably, receipts for his fake police car kit.
Carter was later arrested at his parents’ home in Georgia. His employer, Rep Schneider, was informed of Carter’s crimes and arrest. The Congressman’s office didn’t fire him on the spot. Carter had the choice to resign. Carter resigned. Only after his arrest was Carter’s payroll theft discovered and incredibly that is the only crime Carter will spend time behind bars for. He was initially arrested for impersonating federal agents and illegally possessing a handgun. But it was Carter’s theft of $80,000, which was the crime that sent him to prison. All other charges against him were dropped.
Carter was sentenced at the federal level to nine months. He’ll begin serving his time shortly.
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