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James A. Diggs, 45, of Somerville, told a U.S. District Court judge earlier this year that he used a messaging app to “persuade, induce, entice, and coerce” the victim into having sex with him during what became an October 2018 visit to the Southeast Asian country.
He headed there out of JFK Airport in Queens at least seven times over four years, Acting U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Rachel A. Honig said.
Rather than go to trial, Diggs took a deal from the government, pleading guilty to traveling outside of the United States to engage in criminal sexual activity.
Chief U.S. District Judge Freda L. Wolfson sentenced Diggs to the plea-bargained 108 months in a federal penitentiary, followed by five years of supervised release. He also must register as a sex offender.
Honig credited special agents of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security HSI with the investigation leading to the plea, secured by Assistant U.S. Attorney Patricia Astorga of her Opioid Abuse Prevention and Enforcement Unit in Newark.
She also thanked agents of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection at John F. Kennedy International Airport for their assistance.
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