Sternad was born in Omaha, Nebraska, to James K. and Sandra J. Sternad. Sternad attended high school in Bellevue, Nebraska. He graduated from Miami Dade College in 2003. While attending college, Sternad worked as a hotel manager. He became part of an executive transition team assembled by Driftwood Hospitality, LLC to conduct a multi-million-dollar renovation and re-branding of an aging Dadeland-area hotel into a new boutique concept by Intercontinental Hotels Group.
Sternad announced his candidacy in Cutler Bay, Florida on November 14, 2011. Sternad was one of many candidates who qualified to run on the ballot in the 2012 primary election for the U.S. House, representing Florida's newly drawn 26th District.
Campaign themes and issues
Sternad made jobs creation, the economy and Social Security key issues in his campaign. Sternad had pledged the following if elected as US Representative:
Elections
2012
Sternad ran in the U.S. Congress elections, 2012 primary election for chance to represent Florida's 26th Congressional District. Sternad sought the nomination on the Democratic ticket. The primary elections were held on August 14, 2012. Sternad was defeated by Joe Garcia in the Democratic primary on August 14, 2012. Sternad placed third having garnered 11% of the vote.
Controversy
Campaign finance scandal
During the primary stage of the 2012 election season, the Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald were alerted to discrepancies in Sternad's campaign finance reports by Jefferey Garcia, chief-of-staff and top political strategist for Congressman Joe Garcia. Beginning in August 2012, the newspapers' coverage of Sternad's alleged campaign funding crimes also brought former Republican Congressman David Rivera, who reportedly helped finance mailers attacking Sternad's primary opponent Joe Garcia, among other expensive maneuvers executed by the Sternad campaign, to the attention of federal law enforcement authorities. Garcia ultimately defeated Rivera in the general election on November 6, 2012. Subsequent investigations by the FBI and the Federal Election Commission resulted in Sternad being charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States and concealing the source of unreported campaign funds. Sternad surrendered to FBI agents on February 22, 2013 as part of his cooperation with federal authorities. An FBI and grand jury investigation are exploring Rivera's involvement in the scheme. According to the Miami Herald, this is due to the missing testimony of Rivera's close friend as well as Sternad's campaign manager, Ana Alliegro. Alliegro went underground after failing to show up to her meeting with the FBI in September 2012 in which she would have been required to explain eyewitness accounts alleging she funneled the cash from Rivera to Sternad's campaign. Ana Alliegro was later discovered cutting hair in Nicaragua. She was arrested and extradited back to the United States and placed in federal custody. During a routine "calendar call" hearing preceding Alliegro's trial, Alliegro plead guilty to four felony counts. She would later be sentenced to split sentence consisting of six months' prison and six months' house arrest followed by two years of probation. After a year of continuances in Sternad's sentencing, Federal Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga sentenced Sternad in Federal Court on July 10, 2014 to seven months in prison followed by one year of probation. Following Sternad's extensive cooperation and Ana Alliegro's guilty plea in this scandal, Federal prosecutors asked for a reduction in Sternad's sentence. In consideration of Sternad's ongoing cooperation with the Federal Government, Federal Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga reduced Sternad's sentence in Federal Court on September 19, 2014 to thirty days in prison and three months' home confinement to be followed by one year of probation.
Additional sources
Ballotpedia contributors,"Lamar Sternad." Ballotpedia, An Interactive Almanac of U.S. Politics, Retrieved July 9, 2012.
Caputo, Marc. The Miami Herald, Naked Politics Blog. Retrieved June 9, 2012.
