U.S. District Judge Lawrence L. Piersol has sentenced a Guatemalan man to 10 years in federal prison after he was convicted of attempted enticement of a minor using the internet and attempted sex trafficking of a child following a Homeland Security Investigations Sioux Falls investigation.
The charge of attempted enticement carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison.
Gerber David Santos-Gonzalez, 26, was indicted by a federal grand jury in April 2024. He was found guilty following a jury trial in October 2024.
On Jan. 13, 2025, Santos-Gonzalez was sentenced to 10 years and one month in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release and a special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund in the amount of $200.
Santos-Gonzalez is required to register as a sex offender once released from federal prison.
The conviction stemmed from an incident on March 12, 2024, when Santos-Gonzalez used Facebook and Facebook Messenger to convince a 15-year-old girl to have sex with him in exchange for $100.
The 15-year-old girl was actually an undercover law enforcement officer. Santos-Gonzalez was arrested when he attempted to meet up with the girl in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Santos-Gonzalez was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.