Erik Santana-Garcia, a 34-year-old Mexican national from Salt Lake City, Utah, was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison without parole for his role in sexually exploiting two minors. The sentence was handed down on July 30 by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Missouri.
Santana-Garcia had previously been deported from the US multiple times and illegally reentered the country before being arrested. He pleaded guilty to charges related to interstate transportation of a minor with intent to engage in illegal sexual activity, possession of child pornography, and illegally reentering the US following a prior deportation.
Prosecutors alleged that Santana-Garcia transported one of the minors across state lines intending to engage in illegal sexual activity with the child. The pair was located by police in Oak Grove, Missouri, two days after leaving Utah on November 10, 2024. Investigators later discovered child pornography depicting a second minor on a phone seized from Santana-Garcia at the time of his arrest.
Santana-Garcia had been deported and removed from the US multiple times prior to his most recent offense, with the most recent deportation occurring on March 6, 2019. He will be deported to Mexico after completing his prison sentence.
The case against Santana-Garcia was a result of collaboration between Homeland Security Investigations and local police in Oak Grove, Missouri. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has stated that Santana-Garcia's case is an example of the agency's commitment to protecting children from predators who seek to exploit them.
NTC Report coverage is based on reporting from the original publisher.
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