California man gets 11-year sentence in federal case originating in Hillsboro
A California man indicted federally in 2022 after being apprehended in Texas with a juvenile from Hillsboro was sentenced Wednesday morning to 11 years.
Alex Roman Nguyen, 29, pleaded guilty in March to a charge of transportation with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, according to court records. A second count alleging travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct was dismissed.
Judge Susan J. Dlott of the Southern District of Ohio sentenced Nguyen to 132 months in jail, followed by 10 years of supervised release, during a hearing Sept. 18, court records show. He was also ordered to pay a $100 special assessment and a $5,000 Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act assessment.
As previously reported by the Hillsboro Police Department, Nguyen was arrested in July 2022 following an investigation involving the HPD, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the San Diego, Calif. Police Department.
The Hillsboro Police Department said that the juvenile’s family “reported that [the juvenile] was last seen at their residence during the morning hours of July 16.
“During the course of an investigation and speaking with friends, it was determined that the missing juvenile had been talking with a man named ‘Roman’ from California. Roman had allegedly traveled from the state of California during the week of July 7 and attended the Festival of the Bells with the juvenile. During his time in Hillsboro, ‘Roman’ allegedly slept in a rental vehicle close to the juvenile’s residence.
“Through online and cellular tracking, Nguyen was believed to have allegedly taken the juvenile outside the state of Ohio. Once interstate travel was believed, the Hillsboro Police Department contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Cincinnati Field Office. With the assistance of the FBI, both Nguyen and the juvenile were apprehended in El Paso, Texas by local authorities.”
The Southern District of Ohio wrote in March, “According to court documents, Nguyen met a 15-year-old girl from Hillsboro, Ohio, online and traveled from San Diego to Ohio to meet her in July 2022. Nguyen drove the minor to Kentucky to attempt to purchase airplane tickets and engaged in sex acts with the minor while in Kentucky.
"Unable to obtain flight tickets, Nguyen and the minor boarded a Greyhound bus bound for San Diego and traveled on it until they were apprehended by law enforcement in El Paso, Texas.”
According to a sentencing memorandum, Nguyen’s defense attorney argued that Nguyen is “a capable and successful man who made a grave mistake.”
A sentencing memorandum filed by prosecutors in August alleged that “despite being detained pending trial, Nguyen attempted to continue his relationship” with the juvenile and to “influence her testimony at trial” through various phone calls. The state was seeking a sentence of 151 months in prison.
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