ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Late yesterday, U.S. District Court Martin Judge Reidinger sentenced an Albuquerque, New Mexico man to 180 months in prison for transporting a minor with intent to engage in sexual activity and travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct, announced Andrew Murray, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Judge Reidinger also ordered Jacob Gardea, 24, to serve 10 years of supervised release and to register as a sex offender after he is released from prison.
According to filed court documents and yesterday’s sentencing hearing, beginning in August 2018, Gardea met the minor on the internet. Court records show that Gardea, who knew the victim was a 13-year-old female residing in Rutherford County, initially told the victim he was 16 years old. Also according to court records, in November 2018, Gardea traveled 1,500 miles, from New Mexico to North Carolina, picked up the minor, and traveled west toward New Mexico with her. Following an intense four-day search by law enforcement, Gardea was arrested by the FBI in Oklahoma.
Officers arrived to find Gardea and the teenager “naked from the waist down in the only bed within the room,” the affidavit states.
Gardea confessed to committing sexual acts with the teenager.
Gardea is currently in federal custody.
