MISSOULA — A federal jury convicted a Florida man on Wednesday, Feb. 12 of attempting to coerce a minor for sex after he was arrested in Missoula in an undercover investigation.
According to U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich, a jury found Stevenson Metelus, 36, of Margate, Florida, guilty of attempted coercion and enticement of a minor.
Metelus faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years to life in prison, a $250,000 fine and at least five years to a lifetime of supervised release.
“Metelus was a truck driver passing through Montana when he used social media to attempt to coerce a minor to have sex with him. The problem for him was he was unwittingly talking to an undercover law enforcement officer," Laslovich stated in a news release.
"This is the kind of critical work our office and our law enforcement partners are doing across the state to keep kids safe. Our work will continue, and it can only be done effectively due to the diligence, brilliance, and dedicated service of the people in our office and our law enforcement partners,” Laslovich continued.
Prosecutors alleged that in October 2023, an FBI special agent — using a persona identified as Child 1 — posted on MegaPersonals an advertisement for prostitution services in Missoula, listed the age of Child 1 as “99” and a phone number at which to contact Child 1.
Metelus responded to the ad on Nov. 16, 2023, and asked Child 1 what her “specials” were. Metelus spoke with Child 1, eventually negotiating a price and sexual acts to engage in with her. Child 1 noted she was a minor girl, a news release states.
Metelus eventually asked Child 1 to meet him in his truck when he arrived, but Child 1 said she had a room at the hotel and would leave the door open for him. Child 1 then said that she could meet him at a nearby gas station when he expressed concern about the plan.
The undercover FBI agent had a confidential source call Metelus and, acting as Child 1, spoke briefly with him. The confidential source again told Metelus that she was a minor. The parties then confirmed their plans to meet. Shortly thereafter, Metelus texted Child 1 that he had arrived at the gas station, where law enforcement arrested him.
Metelus eventually admitted to law enforcement his intention was to meet Child 1 for commercial sex.
U.S. District Judge Donald W. Molloy presided and sentencing was set for June 24, 2025. Metelus was released pending further proceedings.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office is prosecuting the case which was investigated by the FBI’s Montana Regional Violent Crime Task Force, the Missoula Police Department and the Missoula County Sheriff’s Office.
