Booking photo for Richard R. Aldaba. (Photo: Utah Department of Corrections)
LOGAN — A 34-year-old Price man, already convicted of sexting with an undercover officer in Logan, has received the maximum sentence for the crimes previously confessed to. Richard R. Aldaba was ordered to serve zero to 5-years in prison.
Aldaba was sentenced Wednesday morning in 1st District Court. He previously accepted a plea deal, pleading guilty to three amended counts of enticing a minor by internet or text, a third-degree felony.
On Mar. 16, 2021, Aldaba messaged a Logan City police officer on a social networking app called MocoSpace. The officer was posing as a 12-year-old girl.
As the messaging continued, Aldaba asked the officer for their phone number to exchange text messages. When the two began texting, the defendant began sending sexually explicit messages, describing what he wanted to do with the supposed girl. He also expressed an interest in meeting up in person.
Aldaba continued to request a picture and asked the undercover officer to promise that they weren’t a cop. The messaging continued into the night but then stopped.
The officer later learned that Aldaba was arrested the next day and booked into the Carbon County Jail for violating his probation. He had previously been convicted of multiple drug crimes and was later sentenced to one-year in prison.
During Wednesday’s sentencing, Judge Brian Cannell ordered the new sentence to run at the same time as the previous case. The exact length of incarceration will be determined by the Utah State Board of Pardons and Parole.
will@cvradio.com