New York Man Pleads Guilty to Failure to Register as a Sex Offender

BOSTON - A New York man, formerly residing in Massachusetts, pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court in Boston to failing to register as a sex offender.

Angel Luis Morales, 30, pleaded guilty to one count of failing to register as a sex offender before U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani, who scheduled sentencing for Feb. 7, 2019.

Between 2013 and 2014, Morales was convicted in Massachusetts of multiple sex offenses including open and gross lewdness and indecent assault and battery. These offenses involved multiple victims, and as a result, Morales was designated a Level III sex offender and required, among other things, to register for life with the Sex Offender Registry Board in any state in which he resided, worked, or attended school.

In 2017, Morales registered with the Sex Offender Registry Board in Massachusetts listing a Roxbury address. In March 2018, law enforcement in New York discovered that Morales had relocated to Rochester and had not updated his registration in New York or notified officials in Massachusetts of his relocation.

On May 18, 2018, Morales was arrested in Rochester and charged in the Western District of New York with failing to register as a sex offender. Morales was ordered detained without bail. He then requested that his case be transferred back to Massachusetts.

Morales faces a sentence of no greater than 10 years in prison, a minimum of five years and up to a lifetime of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; United States Attorney for the Western District of New York James P. Kennedy Jr.; John Gibbons, U.S. Marshal for the District of Massachusetts; and Rochester (N.Y.) Police Chief Mark Simmons made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth G. Shine is prosecuting the case.