Guatemalan National with Negligent Homicide Conviction Sentenced for Illegally Reentering U.S., Attempting to Engage in Sex with Minor

David X. Sullivan,  United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that RAFAEL VINCENTE VINCENTE, also known as “Rafael Vicente Vicente,” “Vincente Carlos Vincente,” “Carlos Vincente,” “Carlos Vicente,” “Rafael A Vincente,” and “Rafael A Vicente,” 41, a citizen of Guatemala last residing in New London, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Sarala V. Nagala in Hartford to 78 months of imprisonment for illegally reentering the U.S. after being deported, and attempting to engage in sex with a minor.

According to court documents and statements made in court, in October 2004, Vincente, who has never held legal immigration status in the U.S., was convicted in Connecticut Superior Court of negligent homicide and evading responsibility for a motor vehicle accident resulting in death, and was sentenced to a 10-year term of incarceration, suspended after 13 months.  In July 2005, he was deported to Guatemala.

Vincente subsequently reentered the U.S. and, on June 7, 2024, was arrested by Groton Town Police after he was 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 sexual activity, and traveled to a hotel in Groton to meet a 15-year-old girl for sex.

Vincente has been detained since his federal arrest on November 21, 2024.  On September 4, 2025, he pleaded guilty to illegal reentry, and admitted that he attempted to entice, patronize, or solicit a minor in violation of federal law.

This matter was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Enforcement and Removal Operations, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  The was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Gordon.

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.