Fort Meade Man Sentenced for Enticing Minor for Sex

FORT MEADE, MD — A Fort Meade man who responded to an ad placed by police posing as a 13-year-old girl was sentenced Friday to 10 years in prison, according to federal officials.

Pedro Antonio Del Granado, 49, of Fort Meade, was convicted Feb. 11 of enticing a minor to engage in sexual activity.

His prison sentence will be followed by 10 years of supervised release, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice. Del Granado has been detained since his trial, after a judge ordered that he be immediately taken into custody and held pending sentencing.

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According to the evidence presented at trial, from Oct. 23-30, 2014, Del Granado used email messages to attempt to entice a person whom he believed to be a 13-year-old girl to engage in sexual activity. In fact, Del Granado was communicating with an undercover Baltimore County Police detective posing as the girl.

Witnesses testified that Del Granado responded to an online ad the detective placed. Prosecutors say Del Granado asked about meeting the 13-year-old girl and discussed what they would do at that time, including specific sex acts.

Once Del Granado and the undercover detective agreed to meet, police arrested Del Granado when he arrived at the location the officer had named. A cell phone containing most of the emails between Del Granado and the undercover detective was found in his vehicle.

When he was arrested, Del Granado told police that he was there to meet a 20-year-old woman, even though the emails from the undercover detective said the girl was 13 years old.