Honduran National Charged with Illegally Reentering U.S., Violating Federal Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act

Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut today announced that a federal grand jury in New Haven has returned an indictment charging JOSE PAVON-FERMIN, 40, a citizen of Honduras who previously resided in Norwalk, with illegally reentering the United States after being deported and failing to register as a sex offender.

The indictment was returned on October 4, 2023.  Pavon-Fermin was arrested on March 7, 2024, in Rustburg, Virginia.  He appeared yesterday before U.S. Magistrate Judge S. Dave Vatti in Bridgeport, entered a plea of not guilty to the charges, and was ordered detained pending trial.

As alleged in court documents and statements made in court, in 2018, Pavon-Fermin was convicted in state court for sexual assault in the third degree and unlawful restraint in the first degree.  For those offenses, he was sentenced to 10 years in jail, suspended after serving four and one-half years, and 10 years of probation.  He also was ordered to register as a sex offender for life.  In June 2021, after serving his state sentence, Pavon-Fermin was deported and removed from the United States.  He illegally reentered the U.S. and, in January 2023, was arrested in Norwalk on unrelated state charges.  Pavon-Fermin failed to register or update his registration in Connecticut’s sex offender database, as required under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (“SORNA”).

SORNA, which was passed by Congress in 2006 as part of the Adam Walsh Act, provides a comprehensive set of minimum standards for sex offender registration and notification in the United States and seeks to strengthen the nationwide network of sex offender registration and notification programs.  In part, SORNA requires registered sex offenders to register and keep their registration current in each jurisdiction in which they reside, work, or go to school.

The indictment charges Pavon-Fermin with one count of illegally reentering the U.S. after being deported, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years, and one count of failing to register as a sex offender, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years.

U.S. Attorney Avery stressed that an indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt.  Charges are only allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This matter is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the United States Marshals Service.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Neeraj N. Patel.