A Baton Rouge man who swiped the identities of 180 students and used their information to apply for student loans in their names, stealing more than $1.8 million in financial aid from the government, is heading to federal prison.
A U.S. Marshal marched Elliot Sterling Jr., 34, out of a downtown Baton Rouge courtroom in handcuffs Tuesday morning after he was sentenced to 11 years in federal prison.
U.S. District Judge Brian Jackson also ordered Sterling to pay more than $2.8 million in restitution to federal authorities and sentenced him to serve three years of probation afterward during a hearing inside the Russell B. Long Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse.
“It’s apparent to me that you’re just one of those fellas who will always try to find the easy way out,” the judge told Sterling moments before handing down the sentence.
Sterling faced between 17 and nearly 22 years in prison, according to a sentencing proposal submitted for Jackson’s consideration. The judge said he didn’t think the evidence warranted such a stiff penalty, noting Sterling was not convicted of a violent offense.
A grand jury indicted Sterling on 14 counts of wire fraud, financial aid fraud and money laundering in August 2020. One more charge was added in a subsequent indictment prosecutors filed 14 months later.
A jury found Sterling guilty of the 15 fraud counts following an eight-day trial last March. The jurors also ordered more than $422,000 of Sterling’s fraudulent proceeds to be seized by the...
Judge found FBI affidavit flawed but not enough to return ballots Probe part of Trump administration effort to reexamine 2020 loss Fulton County argued FBI relied on discredited evidence WASHING...