David X. Sullivan, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that Darwin Francisco Quituizaca-Duchitanga, a 40-year-old Ecuadorian national also known as Darwin Duchitanga-Quituizaca and Juan Mendez-Gutierrez, was sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison for illegally reentering the United States after being deported. The sentencing was handed down by U.S. District Judge Victor A. Bolden in New Haven.
Court documents and statements indicate that Quituizaca first came to the attention of authorities in December 2003 when he was encountered by U.S. Border Patrol under the alias Juan Mendez-Gutierrez. At that time, he claimed Mexican citizenship and was voluntarily returned to Mexico.
In March 2018, Connecticut State Police arrested Quituizaca—then using another alias—in connection with a fatal motor vehicle accident on I-91 in North Haven that had occurred in March 2017. On August 30, 2018, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers located him in Meriden and arrested him while he awaited trial on state charges. In September 2018, an immigration judge ordered his removal to Ecuador; however, he was transferred back to state custody for prosecution.
Quituizaca was convicted of second-degree manslaughter in January 2019 at Connecticut Superior Court and received a sentence of 30 months’ imprisonment. After serving his sentence and being released from state prison on an unspecified date, ICE again apprehended him in Meriden on August 15, 2023. He was removed to Ecuador the following month.
Despite this removal, Quituizaca returned unlawfully to the United States. ICE arrested him again on June 28, 2025, in Meriden. He has remained detained since then and pleaded guilty to unlawful reentry on July 30, 2025.
“This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime,” according to the announcement.
The investigation was conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations division. Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel George prosecuted the case.
