A Guatemalan national, Rafael Vincente Vincente, 41, pleaded guilty in federal court to illegally reentering the United States after deportation and admitted to attempting to entice a minor for sex. The plea was entered before U.S. District Judge Sarala V. Nagala in Hartford.
According to court records, Vincente was convicted in October 2004 in Connecticut Superior Court of negligent homicide and evading responsibility for a fatal motor vehicle accident. He received a 10-year sentence, suspended after serving 13 months, and was deported to Guatemala in July 2005.
Authorities stated that Vincente later returned to the U.S. On June 7, 2024, Groton Town Police arrested him on charges including attempted commercial sexual abuse of a minor, attempted sexual assault in the second degree, and attempted risk of injury to a child. These charges followed an undercover operation where Vincente responded to an online advertisement and traveled to meet someone he believed was a 15-year-old girl.
Vincente has been held since his federal arrest on November 21, 2024. Sentencing is set for January 7, 2026; he faces up to ten years in prison.
The investigation involved U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Enforcement and Removal Operations, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Gordon is prosecuting the case.
“U.S. Attorney Sullivan thanked the State’s Attorney’s Office for the Judicial District of New London for its cooperation in the prosecution of this case.”
