A Guatemalan national living in Connecticut has been sentenced to more than six years in federal prison for illegally coming back into the country and trying to sexual assault a minor after previously being deported following a conviction in connection with a fatal motor vehicle crash.
Rafael Vincente Vincente, 41, who last resided in New London, faced sentencing Wednesday in federal court in Hartford where U.S. District Judge Sarala V. Nagala handed down a 78-month prison term, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut.
Vincente — who has also been known as “Vincente Carlos Vincente,” “Carlos Vincente,” “Carlos Vicente,” “Rafael A Vincente,” and “Rafael A Vicente” — was arrested by the Groton Town Police Department on June 7, 2024, federal officials said. According to authorities, he was allegedly caught in an undercover law enforcement operation in which he responded to an advertisement on Skip the Games — a website commonly used to advertise commercial sex — and went to a hotel in Groton to meet a 15-year-old girl for sex.
Vincente was previously sentenced to 13 months in prison in October 2004 after being convicted in state court on charges of negligent homicide and evading responsibility for a motor vehicle crash resulting in death, according to officials. He was deported to Guatemala in July 2005, authorities said.
Vincente, who has never held legal immigration status, reentered the country at some point before his arrest in Groton, federal officials said. His sentencing came after he pleaded guilty in September to illegal reentry and admitted that he “attempted to entice, patronize or solicit a minor in violation of federal law,” officials said.