JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A former member of the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office Gang Unit who pleaded guilty in July to enticing a minor to participate in illegal sexual activity is expected to be sentenced Thursday.

Josue Garriga, 34, faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years or even life in federal prison.

Garriga’s sentencing hearing will begin at 2 p.m. at the federal courthouse in downtown Jacksonville.

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Garriga will be required to register as a sex offender and be on probation for at least 5 years.

Garriga met the victim at church when he was 17, according to court documents.

Federal investigators said Garriga continued a sexual relationship with the child victim until approximately March 7, 2024. This included reaching up the child’s skirt while serving coffee before church service.

At one point, Garriga used his JSO-issued cell phone and a secret Instagram account to contact the child victim and obtain his phone number, investigators said. Garriga then used his personal cell phone to contact the victim, forwarding his messages to an end-to-end encrypted app that automatically deleted them after 24 hours.

On at least two occasions, Garriga used his JSO work vehicle to travel to the child victim’s neighborhood in Clay County, meet the minor, and engage in sexual intercourse, which is illegal under Florida law.

On another occasion, Garriga met the teenager at a coffee shop in Clay County and convinced him to use his JSO work vehicle; where he engaged in illegal sexual activity with the juvenile victim and did not allow her to leave until he performed a sexual act on her.

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Garriga was at the center of the State Attorney’s Office investigation After shooting and killing 22-year-old Jamee Johnson during a traffic stop in 2019. The interaction, which turned violent when Johnson and Garriga fought, was recorded on the police’s body camera. Although the SAO ruled that the attack was justified, Johnson’s family filed a lawsuit. wrongful death lawsuit in federal court against the city. The city settled the case for $200,000.

The case was filed as part of the Safe Childhood Project, which was launched nationwide by the Department of Justice in May 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual abuse and exploitation. For more information about the Safe Childhood Project, please visit: www.justice.gov/psc.