Booking photo for Carlos Garcia-Rivera. (Courtesy: Cache County Jail)
LOGAN — A 33-year-old Garland man has been sentenced to jail for sexting with an undercover Logan police officer, posing as a 13-year-old girl. Carlos Garcia-Rivera will likely then be deported by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents for being in the country illegally.
Garcia-Rivera was sentenced Wednesday in 1st District Court, appearing by web conference from the Cache County Jail. He previously accepted a plea deal, pleading guilty to one count of enticing a minor by internet or text, a third-degree felony.
On Sept. 8, Garcia-Rivera messaged a Logan City Police officer through a social messaging app. The officer was using a Facebook profile to pose as a 13-year-old Logan girl.
During the conversation, Garcia-Rivera asked the officer to travel to his apartment for $150. He provided the officer his address in Garland.
When the officer asked if the money was for drugs, Garcia-Rivera replied that it was for sex. He then asked for a photo of the girl and tried to video chat, before sending a graphic picture of himself.
The police officer was able to identify Garcia-Rivera from a recent jail booking photo taken around 2018. It appeared to resemble his Facebook profile picture.
Garcia-Rivera was arrested in December and has been in jail, held without bail. He spoke briefly during Wednesday’s sentencing, asking the court for forgiveness.
Cache County Deputy Attorney Dane Murray expressed frustration with Garcia-Rivera being in the country illegally in the past. He asked the court to issue a warrant, so the defendant would be transferred back to Cache County if he is ever arrested in the country unlawfully.
Judge Brian Cannell followed Murray’s recommendation. He stayed a prison sentence and ordered Garcia-Rivera to 180 days in jail, to run consecutively with an unrelated conviction. He warned the defendant that if he were ever arrested in the country illegally, he would sentence him to up to five years in prison.
will@cvradio.com