Editing Frank Sturgis (section)

==Watergate Scandal and Imprisonment==
On June 17, 1972, Sturgis was one of five burglars—alongside Virgilio González, Eugenio Martínez, Bernard Barker, and James W. McCord Jr.—arrested during a break-in at the Democratic National Committee (DNC) headquarters in the Watergate complex, Washington, D.C. Recruited by [[E. Howard Hunt]], a former CIA officer, and [[G. Gordon Liddy]], the team installed listening devices and photographed documents for Nixon’s Committee to Re-elect the President (CREEP). Sturgis, wearing surgical gloves and carrying surveillance gear, was caught after an earlier successful entry weeks prior. The discovery of Hunt’s White House phone number in the burglars’ address books linked the operation to Nixon’s administration, triggering the Watergate Scandal.

Sturgis pleaded guilty to conspiracy, burglary, and wiretapping, receiving a 1-to-4-year sentence. He served only 13 months in a Florida federal prison, released in January 1974, and was denied a pardon by President Jimmy Carter. In 1977, he and co-burglars sued CREEP, claiming they were misled into believing the operation was government-sanctioned, reflecting their sense of betrayal. Sturgis later told The Washington Post (1973) he believed he was serving the country, a sentiment rooted in his anti-communist zeal.