Mexican National Sentenced to 20 Years for Exploiting Minors in the US
A Mexican national who had been deported from the US multiple times before illegally reentering the country has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for sexually exploiting two minors. Erik Santana-Garcia, 34, of Salt Lake City, Utah, was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison without parole for 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. He pleaded guilty on March 3, according to court documents.
Santana-Garcia transported a minor across state lines intending to engage in illegal sexual activity with the child. He left Utah with the victim on Nov. 10, 2024, with the intention of taking the child to New York, but Oak Grove, Missouri, police located them two days later. 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 previously been deported and removed from the US multiple times, most recently on March 6, 2019, according to prosecutors. ICE stated that Santana-Garcia will be deported to Mexico after completing his prison sentence. The agency emphasized that the United States has zero tolerance for child predators or illegal aliens who sneak across the borders.