Las Cruces man pleads guilty to Attempted Coercion and Enticement of a Minor

            ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Ismael Valdez, 37, of Las Cruces, New Mexico, pleaded guilty in federal court in Las Cruces on Aug. 27 to attempted enticement of a minor.

            In the plea agreement, Valdez admitted to committing the offenses between April 29 and May 29 of this year.  According to a criminal complaint, Valdez allegedly sent a sexually explicit video to an undercover law enforcement officer posing as a 13-year-old girl on a social networking application.  Valdez also asked the person he thought was a child to send sexually explicit material of herself to him.  Valdez arranged to meet the person he believed was a child to have sex and traveled from his home in Las Cruces to the meeting location where law enforcement agents arrested him.

            Valdez is currently in custody awaiting sentencing, which has not been scheduled at this time.  The plea agreement calls for a 12-year prison sentence.

            FBI investigated this case.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Matilda McCarthy Villalobos is prosecuting the case.