Doctor busted for child pornography at SFO, en route to Thailand

"A doctor who was arrested during a layover from Mexico to Thailand avoided a jail sentence after pleading guilty to possessing child pornography found on his phone while he was at San Francisco International Airport, court records show. Edgar Alesis Garcia Riego, 38, of Veracruz, Mexico, was sentenced to five years of supervised release. But court filings say he will almost certainly be deported now that his criminal case is over."

"He was arrested back in July and spent several months in jail while his case was pending, records show. Garcia Riego would have been eligible for a multi-year prison term but federal prosecutors recommended he avoid incarceration. Senior U.S. District Judge Maxine M. Chesney handed down the sentence on Dec. 10, records show. The totality of the circumstances surrounding the offenseand particularly defendant's acknowledgement of his wrongdoing, expressions of remorse, and commitment to refrain from engaging in such conduct in the futurevalidate that the time served sentence still is appropriate, a prosecution sentencing memo says."

"Garcia Riego admitted to paying $5 to join a child pornography group on a texting application but also stated he saw three videos he did not like in the Telegram group and then stopped watching, prosecutors said in court filings. Garcia Riego's attorney said in court filings the case has upended his life, and that he was placed on administrative leave at the hospital where he works. He'd never been to jail before this, court filings say."

Edgar Alesis Garcia Riego, 38, was arrested at San Francisco International Airport during a layover from Mexico to Thailand after child pornography was found on his phone. He pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography and was sentenced to five years of supervised release. He spent several months in jail while the case was pending and will almost certainly be deported and barred from future U.S. visas. Federal prosecutors recommended avoiding incarceration and a judge cited the defendant's acknowledgement of wrongdoing, remorse, and commitment to refrain from similar conduct. Garcia Riego admitted paying $5 to join a Telegram group and said he stopped watching videos he did not like. He was placed on administrative leave from his hospital job.

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