A former Florissant police officer will spend two years in federal prison for stealing intimate photos and videos from women he had pulled over.
Julian Alcala, 31, pleaded guilty in December to 20 misdemeanors. The 24-month sentence handed down Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Henry Autry is in line with federal sentencing guidelines, which called for 21 to 27 months in prison.
Alcala admitted that over the course of three months in 2024, he pulled over the victims for minor traffic violations. He then took their phones to check for electronic proof of insurance or vehicle registration, but instead searched through photo albums and sent intimate photos and videos to his own phone.
The FBI began investigating after one of the women realized a video she had taken had been transferred via the cloud. Alcala resigned from the police department after the investigation began. He no longer has a valid law enforcement license in the state of Missouri.
In seeking a three-year prison term, Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine Krug noted that although the crimes Alcala pleaded guilty to were all misdemeanors, his conduct was "an abusive invasion of privacy and caused harm to his victims."
The fact that Alcala was a police officer who had also served in the military, Krug wrote in a sentencing memo, meant that he was well aware of his duty to protect and serve.
Attorneys for Alcala had asked Autry to give their client the minimum 21 months.
Alcala, they wrote in a sentencing memo, had an unstable childhood "surrounded by alcoholism, substance abuse, and domestic violence." They noted that shortly after the FBI's investigation started in June 2024, Alcala entered treatment for sex addiction. He later joined a church and continues to participate in a religion-based 12-step recovery program.
"Suffice it to say, Alcala has taken meaningful steps toward rehabilitation that have proven effective," his attorneys concluded. "A lengthy term of incarceration will only hinder the successful path he has found outside of custody and further delay his progress."
Alcala will also be required to pay more than $2,600 in restitution to his victims, some of whom spoke in court on Wednesday. There are also several ongoing civil lawsuits against Alcala and the City of Florissant, which could open him up to more financial penalties.
Attorneys for the victims are trying to force Alcala to sit for a deposition in the civil cases before he reports to prison.
Copyright 2026 St. Louis Public Radio
