Former Prince George's County
police officer Juan Carter was sentenced to prison Thursday for selling guns
police had seized from criminals.
Carter, 38, was sentenced to 20
years in prison with all but seven years suspended. He had been convicted of
theft and misconduct in office charges in January.
Carter had been responsible for
logging in guns seized by a Maryland State Police task force. But between
August 2008 and October 2009, 29 confiscated guns were never listed on the
police property log, prosecutors said. Authorities recovered about a dozen of
the stolen weapons so far and are looking for the rest.
One of the guns that Carter
took and sold was later used during a domestic dispute in Baltimore,
prosecutors said. Another was used in the shooting of an off-duty Prince
George's County police officer, Eric Horne, who lost one of his fingers in the
incident.
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During Thursday's sentencing in
Prince George's County Circuit Court, a prosecutor read a letter from the
wounded officer. Horne wrote that when he learned about the history of the gun
that had wounded him, "the feeling of hurt was the one I felt most of
all."
Prosecutors noted that the
unrecovered guns Carter took and sold could still be used to commit additional
crimes. But defense lawyer Douglas Wood said that Carter was a good police
officer prior to the offenses.
"For all these years, he
was a fine man," Wood said.
Carter's father suffered a
stroke on the day his son was convicted and asked that the judge "show
some humanity" so that Carter could help him.
Addressing the court during
Thursday's hearing, Carter apologized to Prince George's County police for any
damage he caused to the department's reputation. He also apologized to his
family.
"I'd like to say I'm
sorry," he said.
Judge Melanie Shaw Geter said
the saddest part of the case is that "the defendant is an individual who
took an oath to protect the community."
Sentencing guidelines require
Carter to serve no more than two years behind bars. But Geter said she was
giving Carter a longer sentence because "we have to take a stand against
gun violence."
Carter resigned from the Prince
George's County Police Department shortly after he was convicted, according to
a police spokesman.