Gabriel Estrada, a 30-year-old resident of Denver, Colorado, has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison. The sentence includes five years of supervised release following his imprisonment. U.S. District Court Judge Alan B. Johnson delivered the sentence on January 13 in Cheyenne.
Estrada was convicted by a federal jury on October 25, 2024. According to trial evidence and court documents, he attempted to entice a minor for illegal sexual activity using an online chat website. An undercover agent posed as a 13-year-old girl from Laramie, Wyoming, with whom Estrada communicated about engaging in sexual acts.
The communication included asking the persona if she would have sex with him and if she had a friend who might join them. Estrada also inquired about her sexual experience before driving two hours from Denver to Laramie to meet the person he believed was the young girl. Upon arrival in Laramie, police officers arrested Estrada and seized his iPhone containing incriminating text messages along with two condoms.
United States Attorney Eric Heimann commented on the case stating: “The Internet can be a dangerous place for our children because of people like this defendant, a fully grown man who wanted to have sex with a 13-year-old girl and did everything he could to make that happen.” He emphasized the commitment of the United States Attorney’s Office to support law enforcement efforts aimed at identifying and arresting individuals who seek to exploit children.
The investigation was conducted by the Laramie Police Department and the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Z. Seth Griswold prosecuted the case.
This case is part of Project Safe Childhood, an initiative launched by the Department of Justice in May 2006 to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse. The project coordinates federal, state, and local resources for apprehending offenders who exploit children through the internet and aims at rescuing victims.
Case No. CR-24-00033