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Lackland Air Force Base
Mark Antonio Pazmino, a retired member of the Army and linguist for the National Security Agency, and Mark Richard Hardin, an active duty Navy member and medical technician at San Antonio Military Medical Center, were sentenced this month by a federal judge. They will each spend a decade in prison.
In 2016, Pazmino responded to a personal ad that he believed was written by a 14-year-old girl living on Lackland Air Force Base. According to court records, Pazmino told the girl in chat messages as well as in phone conversations that he wanted to "engage in sexual activity" with her. The 14-year-old was actually an undercover agent with the Air Force.
Pazmino was arrested by federal agents when he showed up at Lackland to meet the girl in July 2016. He has been in custody since, and pled guilty to attempted coercion and enticement of a minor in May 2017. He was sentenced on Jan. 29. In addition to a decade in prison, Pazmino will be under supervised release for 20 years.
Hardin fell into a similar trap. On Jan. 24, Hardin was found guilty of attempted coercion and enticement of a minor. In February 2016, Hardin began texting someone he believed to be a 14-year-old girl, according to the release. That same month, Hardin was arrested after showing up at Lackland to have sex with the girl, who was in fact an undercover agent. He was in custody since his arrest and pled guilty to the charged in October 2017.
Hardin, 28, will be under supervised release for five years following his 10-year prison sentence.
