Individual Pleads Guilty To Coercion And Enticement Of A Minor

MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced that Santiago “Jimmy” Perez III, age 40, entered a guilty plea to one count of Coercion and Enticement of a Minor, in violation of 18 United States Code Section 2422(b), punishable by a term of imprisonment of at least 10 years, a fine of up to $250,000.00, or both, a term of supervised release of at least 5 years, and a special assessment fee in the amount of $100.00.

The Indictment charged the defendant with crimes stemming from an incident occurring on or about May 3, 2019, in which the defendant visited the school of his niece, who was eleven years old at that time. The defendant removed his niece from school without her parents’ knowledge or consent, and the defendant took his niece to his residence in Westville, Oklahoma, which is in Adair County.  Once in the home, the defendant attempted to have his niece touch his private parts and exposed himself to her before she ran out of the residence.

The charges arose from an investigation by the Adair County Sheriff’s Office, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The Honorable Jodi Dishman, U.S. District Judge in the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma, accepted the plea and ordered the completion of a presentence investigation report.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony Marek represented the United States.