David B. Fein, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that MICHAEL HARRIS, 34, of New Haven, was sentenced today by Senior United States District Judge Ellen Bree Burns in New Haven to approximately three months of imprisonment, time served, and five years of supervised release, for failing to register as a sex offender.

The Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (“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.

According to court documents and statements made in court, in October 1998, HARRIS was convicted in New York of first degree sexual abuse and robbery offenses.  Prior to his release from prison in 2007, HARRIS was informed of his registration obligations under SORNA.  After his release, HARRIS was registered as a sex offender until he moved to New Haven in 2010.  Between October 2010 and May 2011, while residing on Dorman Street in New Haven, HARRIS never registered as a sex offender or updated a registration in the Connecticut Sex Offender Registry.

HARRIS was detained in federal custody from early May 2011 to early August 2011, when he was released on bond.

On November 29, 2011, HARRIS pleaded guilty to one count of failure to register with the state sex offender registry.

This matter was investigated by the United States Marshals Service and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Henry K. Kopel.

PUBLIC AFFAIRS CONTACT:

U.S. ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
Tom Carson
(203) 821-3722
thomas.carson@usdoj.gov

 

 

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