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A 62-year-old McAllen businessman on Thursday was sentenced to a little more than 16 years in prison for coercing a minor to create child sexual abuse material.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas said in a news release that Luis Fabian Vela previously pleaded guilty to coercion and enticement of a minor on Oct. 27, 2023.
From Sept. 29, 2022, through Oct. 5, 2022, Vela operated a financial account under a business he owns called Birdiebistro, which is when he began communication with a 15-year-old child, according to the release.
“Even after the minor told Vela their age, he continued to engage in those conversations which were at times sexual in nature and extremely vulgar,” the release stated. “He then instructed the minor on how to produce child pornography and utilized the Birdiebistro account to pay for the files.”
U.S. District Judge Micaela Alvarez enhanced Vela’s sentence after she determined he was a dangerous, repeat offender against minors and because the victim was younger than 16 years old.
“In handing down the prison term, Judge Alvarez noted how Vela had community support throughout his life but turned to illegal sexual conduct when he was stressed,” the release stated. “Calling his behavior sexually deviant, Judge Alvarez expressed concerns for the safety of the community due to these crimes occurring in the dark.”
Alamdar S. Hamdani, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas, said Vela used his prominence to coerce the child.
“Vela is a prominent business owner who used his significant means to coerce minors into producing pornographic material of children for his own gratification, even going as far as instructing them how to take photographs of specific areas,” Hamdani said in the release. “He boasted about his wealth to get what he wanted, but there won’t be much of that now … at least for the next 16 years.”
Craig S. Larrabee, special agent in charge of HSI San Antonio, said in a statement that the sentence serves as an important reminder to the South Texas Community.
“This sentence serves as an important reminder to our South Texas community that even a trusted pharmacist has the capability to coerce and entice a minor into producing child pornography,” Larrabee said. “The exploitation and coercion revealed in this case was extremely disheartening.
“It is HSI’s mission to protect our youth by aggressively investigating individuals like these and bringing these defendants to justice.”
