A staffer from the office of Democratic Rep. Brad Schneider of Illinois has been fired for impersonating an FBI agent and will soon reach federal prison.
Court documents reveal that the staffer posed as an FBI agent at a rally before leading authorities on a chase through Washington D.C.
Thankfully the chase came to a close after the t-shirt the staffer was wearing tipped off law enforcement.
“Carter, who was standing near his parked car, was wearing a black T-shirt that read ‘federal agent,’ a police duty belt, a Glock pistol, extra ammunition, handcuffs, a radio, and an earpiece,” the Daily Beast reported.
The Daily Beast shared that the staffer also secretly gave himself an $80,000 raise before his arrest and has since pleaded guilty to stealing public funds.
Daily Beast reporter José Pagliery revealed that the staffer had been a fugitive for months between the end of 2020 into early 2021 before authorities caught him.
The report reveals that the staffer pulled off his hoax so well that people in the Trump crowd had thanked him for his service.
At the time, Carter had been driving a blue ford Taurus which looked very similar to an unmarked police vehicle. In fact, his car also had all the accessories of a law enforcement vehicle.
More details of this report from ‘The Gateway Pundit’ taken from The Daily Beast’s piece:
When plainclothes police came closer to investigate the imposter, they noticed that Carter kept his magazine pouch on the side of his shooting hand behind his firearm—a positioning that would make it difficult for him to reload, should he enter a firefight.
This mistake alerted them that Carter might be an impostor, a source familiar with the investigation told The Daily Beast.
Noticing that he was being examined by plainclothes police officers, Carter fled the scene, making sure to avoid officers from the D.C. Metropolitan Police.
The plainclothes officers contacted the Secret Service, which then asked uniformed police officers to approach the man and ask him to present credentials, the affidavit said.
When bicycle-mounted officers with the Secret Service approached Carter, he said he was with the FBI, the affidavit said, and when asked for credentials Carter said, “I don’t have them.” He then got into his vehicle and sped away, with bicycle cops unsuccessfully chasing him.
Capitol Police, FBI, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department and the Secret Service launched an investigation into the incident, with Secret Service agent A. Pascual deducing that Carter might have purchased the “Federal Agent” T-shirt from a store known as 13FiftyApparel.
Using information provided by the store owner, Pascual began sifting through records of those who purchased black “Federal Agent” T-shirts. By narrowing down the list to those living in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia, Pascual managed to bring the number of potential suspects to 21.
Using the help of an intelligence analyst and physical descriptions, Pascual narrowed down the list further to a single suspect: Sterling Carter.
Pascual also triangulated his findings another way, by examining records of SignsAndTagsOnline.com, a website that sells custom-built license plates. The website’s customer service representative provided law enforcement an invoice of Carter’s order, which also had his address on it, the affidavit said.
Speaking to Carter’s neighbors, federal agents learned that Pascual would often dress up as a law enforcement officer, carrying his firearm openly — an act illegal under District of Columbia law, The Daily Beast reported.
Neighbors also reported that Carter would often say his fake police car was a “work vehicle,” according to the outlet.
Officers found parts of the fake uniform Carter wore that day when they raided his home on New Year’s Eve.
He was later arrested at his parents’ house in Georgia, according to The Daily Beast.
Carter pleaded guilty to unlawfully carrying a firearm, the outlet reported. He avoided prison time because federal prosecutors dropped the law-enforcement impersonation charge against him.
Since Carter was 24 when he made his guilty plea, he was eligible to participate in a District of Columbia prison diversion program for young first-time offenders, Carter’s lawyer said, according to The Daily Beast.
Court papers state that the staffer was given the option to resign or be fired by Schneider’s office. Reportedly, Carter agreed to resign, but had kept his government-issued cellphone.
Carter has been sentenced to nine months in federal prison over the theft of public funds. His lawyer said that Carter would be turning himself in soon to begin the sentence, according to reports.
Sources: TheGatewayPundit, The Daily Beast, WesternJournal
