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Sex charge guilty plea means long prison term
YOUNGSTOWN
A 35-year-old city man faces 10 years to life in prison after having pleaded guilty in federal court to an information charging him with interstate transportation of a minor for sex.
David Guevara Sr. entered his plea Friday before U.S. Magistrate George J. Limbert.
Guevara will be sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Christopher Boyko at 11 a.m. Sept. 7.
Guevara transported a 15-year-old girl from Ohio to Pennsylvania for sex Sept. 30 or Oct. 1, 2015, the information says.
The defendant met the girl in July and engaged in sexual activity with her in a tent along the Mahoning River in Youngstown and continued that relationship with her in Philadelphia, the U.S. attorney said.
Guevara told authorities he intended to have a child with her and to take her to Mexico to give birth, according to an affidavit from FBI Agent Herbert D. Fitzgerald Jr., which explains the case.
The girl met Guevara in St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital, where he was admitted after he was assaulted July 8 in the “tent city” under the Fallen Firefighters Memorial Bridge in downtown Youngstown, according to the affidavit.
The girl ran away from her Youngstown home July 23; and, on July 31, Guevara bought bus tickets for her and for himself to Philadelphia, where he used to be a construction worker.
After being confronted Aug. 1 by a man at the Youngstown bus station, Guevara and the girl fled on foot along train tracks to New Castle, Pa., leaving behind their clothes and belongings and never using those bus tickets, according to the affidavit and Guevara’s written plea agreement.
Guevara then obtained two bus tickets to Philadelphia from a church ministry, and he and the girl had sexual intercourse after they arrived in Philadelphia, the affidavit and plea agreement said.
Police found and detained the girl in Philadelphia and returned her to Youngstown on Oct. 16, with Guevara returning by bus to Youngstown on Oct. 23.
Guevara was booked into Mahoning County jail Dec. 8 on state charges of aggravated trespass, contributing to the unruliness of a minor, obstruction and assault of a minor pertaining to his having snuck into the girl’s residence, where he was found hiding under a bed Nov. 3, the affidavit said.
Guevara had fled from that residence on foot, leaving behind his wallet and cellphone.
The state charges in Boardman court were dropped because of the filing of the federal charge.
If Guevara is released from prison, he will be on supervised release for a period ranging from five years to the rest of his life and will have to register as a sex offender.
During the plea hearing, Guevara politely answered “Yes, sir,” “Affirmative,” or “Negative,” to the magistrate’s questions designed to ensure that he understood the charge he was admitting to and the consequences of his guilty plea.
The case is being prosecuted by Ben Gullo, an assistant U.S. attorney.
Joseph Gardner is the defense lawyer.
Besides the FBI, Youngstown and Boardman police and a Mahoning County Sheriff’s Office sergeant investigated this case.
Guevara remains detained in U.S. Marshals’ custody pending sentencing.