Vega, 44, originally of Erie, Pennsylvania, had been arrested in 2019 after attempting to meet with a 13-year-old Glen Dale girl he met on a dating website. He was arrested by local police and in 2020 entered a guilty plea to one count of soliciting and traveling to engage a minor in prohibited sexual activity, to which Judge Jeff Cramer sentenced him to between five and 30 years. Vega successfully appealed the sentence on the grounds that sentencing guidelines require the judge to specify a number of years when handing down the sentence.

Vega’s case went to trial earlier this year, where he was found guilty on four felony counts and two misdemeanors after a four-day trial. On Monday, Cramer sentenced Vega to 18 years for soliciting a minor and traveling to engage the minor in prohibited sexual activity, two-to-10 years for soliciting a minor via a computer, and one-to-five years each for two counts of third-degree sexual assault.

These sentences are to be served consecutively, for an effective sentence of 22-to-30 years in prison. Two additional misdemeanor charges of third-degree sexual abuse each earned Vega an additional 90 days in jail, to be served concurrently with his other sentences.

“Mr. Vega has shown little to no remorse for anything other than the fact that he got caught,” Cramer said just prior to sentencing.

photo by: Alan Olson

Attorney Andy Mendelson addresses judge Jeff Cramer at the sentencing hearing for Saul Vega.

Upon his release, Vega will be required to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life, and to be put on supervised release for sex offenders for 40 years following his eventual release.

Vega’s sister, Angela Rivera, spoke in Vega’s defense prior to sentencing, telling Cramer that her brother had “a lapse in judgment” in attempting to solicit a child for sex. Several members of Vega’s family were present in the courtroom for sentencing, as was the court’s appointed guardian of the victim.

“He would never do anything as what these counts are stating that he was doing,” Rivera said. “Even though he has done it, we can understand that everyone does make mistakes. … He would never do anything that would cost him his livelihood, and (cause him to) be away from his family.”

Eric Gordon prosecuted the case on behalf of the state. Vega was represented by attorney Andy Mendelson.

According to published reports, Vega, then 41, made contact with a 13-year-old Glen Dale girl on the dating website Adult Friend Finder and had met the girl for sex. The girl told police that she represented herself as being 18 years old on the site, and that she had been sexually assaulted after the fact.

Investigators took over the girl’s online profile, where Vega continued to communicate with police, apparently believing he was in contact with the girl. Court records indicate that Vega said he had found out about the girl’s true age before proceeding to send sexually explicit messages to the profile over the course of more than a month. Vega sent messages to a phone he believed to be the girl’s, saying he wanted “to see my girl” and asking for explicit pictures. Vega continued to send a string of explicit messages to the phone over the following week.

The following day, investigators posing as the girl told Vega that her parents would be out of town while a fictional friend was visiting, at which point Vega invited himself over, bringing with him a 12-pack of beer. Around 9 p.m., Vega entered the residence and immediately was detained by West Virginia State Police and federal law enforcement agents.