A Las Vegas judge went beyond attorney negotiations on Monday when he sentenced a 70-year-old man who admitted driving home drunk from a bar and killing a bicyclist.
Charles Carter Jr. pleaded guilty in April to DUI resulting in death for causing the crash that killed Wesley Sterner, a 77-year-old bicyclist and Air Force veteran. Attorneys had agreed to a sentence of three to 10 years in prison, but District Judge Ronald Israel instead sentenced Carter to between five and 15 years.
Israel said he was “sick and tired” of presiding over fatal DUI cases.
“I shake my head, because I don’t know what society can do to reduce the number of DUIs in Clark County,” the judge said.
Carter told police that he was driving home from a bar when he struck Sterner shortly after 7 a.m. on Nov. 2, near Shaumber Road and Grand Teton Drive, according to an arrest report. The night before the crash, Carter was at a “family party” at a bar called Scoundrels, where Carter had three to four beers and one or two shots, according to court filings from Carter’s defense attorney.
The owner of Scoundrels did not respond to a request for comment on Monday.
According to court filings, Carter was at the bar for six hours and thought he was sober enough to drive home. He instead passed out behind the wheel and drove over a median, striking and killing Sterner during the bicyclist’s early-morning ride.
Justin Wilson, Carter’s defense attorney, wrote in court filings that his client takes medication for a disability from his time enlisted in the U.S. Navy. He wrote that Carter “believes that something in his medication caused him to react differently than any time drinking previously.”
“I’m sorry this whole thing happened. I wish it never happened,” Carter said when he addressed the judge during Monday’s hearing.
Victim’s wife died before hearing
Wesley Sterner maintained an active life after he retired from leading the JROTC program at Western High School. His wife of 56 years, Linda, previously told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that he continued traveling, playing in bowling leagues and going on bike rides nearly every morning.
Linda Sterner was diagnosed with a recurring bout of lung cancer shortly before her husband was killed. She died Thursday, just four days before the sentencing hearing.
“I feel like her death was sped up,” Linda Sterner’s son, Shane, told the judge on Monday. “… I had to watch her be alone and not have someone with her. My dad was her world. They did everything together.”
During an interview in March, Linda Sterner told the Review-Journal that she asked an attorney if she could sue the bar that served Carter drinks before the crash. She was told no, because of Nevada’s lack of a “dram shop” law.
Nevada’s laws explicitly shield businesses from liability for overserving alcohol to customers who cause harm, such as in a DUI crash. The majority of other states have some form of dram shop law.
Attorneys, activists and politicians have said Nevada’s laws are the result of lobbying from the state’s gaming and entertainment industry.
Last year, lawmakers increased the maximum penalty for DUI crashes involving death from 20 to 25 years in prison. Defendants can be sentenced to a minimum of two years in prison if they have no prior offenses, or five years in prison with a prior offense.
Arguing sentencing discrepancies
In court filings, Wilson argued that a stipulated sentence of a minimum three years in prison was fair for his client, who had no prior DUI offenses. In his sentencing memorandum, Wilson referenced former NFL player Henry Ruggs, who was sentenced to between three and 10 years in prison for killing 23-year-old Tina Tintor and her dog in a 2023 DUI crash. Police have said Ruggs was driving about 150 mph before crashing into Tintor’s car, causing it to burst into flames.
The judge was not persuaded by other DUI sentences, including the Ruggs case, before he decided to sentence Carter to a lengthier prison term.
“I would never have agreed to that,” Israel said about the “well-known prior case,” referring to Ruggs’ sentencing. “I don’t know what the specific facts of that case were, so maybe there was a reason.”
Following the hearing, Wilson told the Review-Journal he was frustrated by the imposition of a longer sentence, arguing that a different judge would not have gone against the guilty plea agreement.
“Generally speaking, the lack of sentencing continuity in Clark County is problematic,” Wilson said.
Wesley Sterner’s son told the Review-Journal that he approved of the judge’s decision to increase Carter’s sentence beyond what was outlined in the plea agreement. The judge also ordered Carter to pay $10,000 in restitution to Shane Sterner.
“Nothing is going to bring back my dad,” Shane Sterner said. “But I’m glad it wasn’t three years.”
Carter, who was out of custody, was handcuffed at the end of Monday’s hearing. He walked out of the courtroom while shaking his head.
Earlier in the hearing, Wesley and Linda Sterner’s daughter-in-law sobbed as she gave a victim impact statement. She told the judge that she and her husband became Linda Sterner’s caregivers after the fatal crash, even though Wesley Sterner planned to help her through her cancer diagnosis.
Christine Sterner said her father-in-law was taken away by a “stupid mistake.” Then she corrected herself.
“Not a stupid mistake — it was a stupid choice,” Christine Sterner said, raising her voice until it echoed across the courtroom. “It was a stupid choice. It was a choice. I don’t get a choice, Linda doesn’t get a choice, and Wes didn’t get a choice. I pray I can forgive him, but not right now.”
Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0340.
