Dilbagh Singh, age 56, of Ontario, Canada, was sentenced to 46 months of incarceration after pleading guilty to international travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct.
If he had been convicted of the charge of traveling to the United States to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor, Singh would have faced a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years in federal prison and he could have been sentenced to as much as 30 years.
According to the criminal complaint, Singh initiated a conversation in an internet chatroom with undercover agents presuming to be a 15-year-old girl named “Laura.” During these conversations, he stated he lived in Scottsdale and expressed interest in meeting her to engage in sexual activity.
On May 2, 2017, HSI special agents identified Singh when he arrived in Phoenix on a flight from Toronto, and observed him as he traveled to Flagstaff and checked into a local hotel. Singh was encountered the following day at the predetermined meet location and taken into custody without incident. At the times of his arrest, investigators discovered condoms, alcohol and soda he bought for his planned sexual encounter with “Laura.”