The fake agent’s name Sterling Carter is a staffer for Democratic Congressman Brad Schneider of Illinois. He would open-carry a firearm and cruise around in an unmarked vehicle pretending to be an FBI agent.
When neighbors asked, he would simply say it’s his “work vehicle.”Two years ago, two secret service agents noticed the unmarked car with an armed individual standing near it. He wore a shirt that read “federal agent” on it.
Sexton added that court documents showed that Carter was convincing enough as a fake federal agent that locals thanked him for his service. Two secret service agents couldn’t get clear facial recognition but did run his plates which came up blank. That’s when a bike police unit was dispatched.
Two secret service agents couldn’t get clear facial recognition but did run his plates which came up blank. That’s when a bike police unit was dispatched.
Sexton said that when the cops approached Carter, he identified himself as FBI but refused to provide his credentials leading to him speeding off. The bike squad peddled after him but stopped citing “safety concerns.”
Federal officials busted Carter after learning he bought his “federal agent” t-shirt from a shop in Florida, procured a complete list of those who purchased the item, and then narrowed the list of potential suspects to those who lived in the DC area.
Yet, even after his apprehension by authorities, Carter went to jail not because he was a fake agent carrying a handgun in public. It was that he gave himself an $80,000 raise by forging the name of the congressman’s chief of staff:
One Secret Service agent recognized the shirt the suspect was wearing and traced it back to a single shop in Florida. After receiving a list of everyone who’d bought that particular shirt, he narrowed it down to one person who lived in the DC area and matched the description of the suspect: Sterling Carter. Several weeks later, the investigators learned that Carter was a congressional staffer who worked for Rep. Brad Schneider, a Democrat from Illinois.
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