El Salvadoran Sentenced To 46 Months In Prison For Failing To Register As A Sex Offender And For Illegally Re-Entering The U.S.

Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Paul W. Grimm sentenced Osmin Alfaro, age 39, a native of El Salvador residing in Rockville, Maryland, late yesterday to 46 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for failing to register as a sex offender and for illegally re-entering the U.S. after conviction for a felony. Judge Grimm ordered that upon his release from prison, Alfaro will be subject to deportation, but while he is in the United States, must register as a sex offender in the place where he resides, where he is an employee, and where he is a student, under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).                      

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; U.S. Marshal Michael Hughes of Washington, D.C.; and Special Agent in Charge William Winter of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

“I commend the Superior Court Sex Offender Investigations Squad for their hard work and tireless hours spent on apprehending Alfaro,” said U.S. Marshal Michael Hughes. "We will continue to use all available assets to combat such crimes and keep our streets safe."

According to his plea agreement, on July 2, 2004, Alfaro was convicted of a sexual offense in the Montgomery County Circuit Court and ordered to register as a sex offender.  Alfaro initially registered as a sex offender in Montgomery County in 2005, but subsequently moved and did not update his sex offender registration to reflect his change of residence.  Alfaro was deported to El Salvador on August 15, 2008, after pleading guilty to failure to register as a sex offender.   

The U.S. Marshals Service learned that Alfaro illegally re-entered the United States sometime before March 2010 and from that time until approximately February 1, 2014, Alfaro resided in Maryland but did not update his registration as a sex offender.  During that time, Alfaro was not registered as a sex offender anywhere, and he repeatedly traveled between Maryland and the District of Columbia.  After being apprehended by the U.S. Marshals Service and ICE on April 29, 2014, Alfaro was taken into ICE custody.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.  For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.justice.gov/psc and click on the "resources" tab on the left of the page.             

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the U.S. Marshals Service and HSI Baltimore for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Rosenstein thanked Special Assistant U.S. Attorney James I. Pearce, of the U.S. Department of Justice, Criminal Division, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael T. Packard, who prosecuted the case.