A Pine Bluff man accused of impersonating a foreign diplomat to get out of a speeding ticket is representing himself in a federal jury trial that began Tuesday.
The-Nimrod Sterling, 42, who years ago officially changed his name from Nimrod Sanders to the hyphenated one, is also accused of being a felon in possession of a firearm -- a loaded 12-gauge shotgun that law enforcement officers found propped against a wall near the head of his bed during an Oct. 14, 2014, search of his house.
In opening statements, Assistant U.S. Attorney Ali Ahmad told jurors they would hear about how Sterling "would drive around Pine Bluff in a used limousine with official-looking decals," and the local police "couldn't even give him a ticket."
Sterling told jurors that it's against the law to pretend to be a diplomatic official, but "only if I am not a diplomat." He also noted that he is accused of having "the intent to defraud my way out of an alleged speeding ticket" and told jurors, "Keep in mind: words versus proof."
The focus of Sterling's fraud charge is an Oct. 1, 2013, stop by a state trooper in a construction zone on Interstate 530 near Redfield, where Cpl. Jeff Preston testified that he clocked the silver Jeep Liberty that Sterling was driving, with his mother as a passenger, going 75 mph in a 60 mph zone.
Preston said he handed out speeding tickets that day to three motorists, but let Sterling off with a "warning" because he saw stickers on the back of the vehicle saying "Diplomatic Immunity -- Do Not Detain," and because, when he asked for a driver's license, registration and proof of insurance, Sterling handed him a "Diplomatic Identification Card" with his photograph, which matched that of his Arkansas driver's license.
The card -- shown enlarged on courtroom monitors -- said that "the Bearer is officially immune" from traffic citations and arrests, and has "dual citizenship" in the United States and the "Conch Republic." The back warns, "The bearer should be treated with due respect and all appropriate steps should be taken to prevent any attack on the Bearer's sovereignty, freedom or dignity. Trespass upon the Bearer shall constitute an international incident for redress per violation of the International World Court Rules of Engagement."
After asking some basic questions, mostly of Sterling's mother, who said she owned the vehicle but that burglars had stolen her registration, Preston said he returned to his car and searched databases to see if the Republic of Conch was a country entitled to diplomatic immunity with the United States but couldn't find any mention of such a country.
He said that in accordance with state police policy "to err on the side of caution and not risk an international incident," he let Sterling proceed with a verbal warning that was also entered into the police computer, allowing Sterling to escape the $330 fine that the other drivers he ticketed in that area had to pay. He said the normal fine for going 75 mph in a 60 mph zone is $165, but the amount doubles in a construction zone.
The seven women and five men on the jury saw a video of the stop taken by Preston's dashboard camera and heard most of the audio, which indicated that the exchange between the trooper and the Sterlings was cordial.
Although U.S. District Judge Billy Roy Wilson appointed Assistant Federal Public Defender Nicole Lybrand as Sterling's stand-by counsel, Sterling cross-examined government witnesses himself, getting the trooper to acknowledge that despite an earlier written report, he never heard Sterling say he had diplomatic immunity and couldn't be detained.
Sterling said he wasn't aware he'd been given a "warning ticket," to which Preston replied that he gave him a "verbal warning" when he told Sterling, as he drove off, to "slow down."
Jurors also heard from Chenobia Calhoun, a supervisory protocol officer with the Diplomatic Affairs Division at the U.S. State Department in Washington, D.C. She said that while a "duly accredited" foreign diplomat would have immunity in the United States from criminal prosecution, Sterling wasn't an official diplomat and the card he presented wasn't an authentic diplomatic identification card. She said she wasn't familiar with the Republic of Conch, which Sterling says is in the Florida Keys, but that he has never visited.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Linda Lipe read aloud a stipulation that prior to 2014, Sterling had been convicted of a crime punishable by at least a year of imprisonment, but never told jurors the nature of the charge. In pretrial hearings, Lipe said Sterling was convicted in 2002 of robbing a bank in Chicago with a toy gun.
Warren Newman, an agent with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, testified that during a search of Sterling's home last fall, he found the loaded sawed-off shotgun, which was still long enough to be legal, along with boxes of military-grade buckshot, with two rounds missing, near Sterling's side of the bed. He also testified to finding a box of magnets, as well as flag magnets that attach to cars, all bearing diplomatic language, along with an order form indicating Sterling ordered them from Germany.
Newman showed jurors photographs of two magnetic "United Nations" flags attached to the front bumper of Sterling's black 1998 limousine, parked in the driveway, as well as a tag on the front of the car reading "Diplomatic Executive," and signs posted around the red-brick house saying, "No Trespass/Diplomatic Territory/Deadly Force Authority."
"Is it against the law to have such flags?" Sterling asked.
"I know of no such law," Newman replied.
The trial resumes at 8:30 a.m. today.
Metro on 05/20/2015