NORFOLK, Va. (WRIC) — A former United States Navy Chief Petty Officer from Virginia has been sentenced in federal court to 17 years in prison after he was arrested while meeting an undercover officer for what he thought was sex with an underage girl.
According to court documents, on March 29, 2022, 38-year-old Daniel Alan Puff of Virginia Beach contacted who he thought was the mother of a 13-year-old girl, offering $60 for a sex act from the girl. In this exchange, Puff was actually in contact with an undercover law enforcement officer.
The next day, the undercover officer directed Puff to a meeting location in Chesapeake. Puff arrived at the location, surveyed the area for police and gave $60 to the undercover officer before being arrested and taken into custody.
While in the back of the police car, Puff took out his phone and deleted the text conversation he had with the undercover officer, later claiming to a law enforcement agent that he was just trying to text someone.
Puff was found guilty of attempted coercion and enticement, attempted sex trafficking of a minor, obstruction of justice and providing a false statement to law enforcement by a jury on January 26, 2023.
