Jose Raul Maita, a 55-year-old citizen of Ecuador, pleaded guilty on April 9 before U.S. District Judge Vernon D. Oliver in Hartford to the charge of unlawful reentry of a removed alien, according to David X. Sullivan, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut.
Maita’s case is significant due to his history of criminal convictions and repeated unauthorized entries into the United States. Authorities say that Maita was first granted legal permanent resident status in June 1996 based on marriage to a U.S. citizen but was later convicted in February 1998 in New York for first-degree sexual abuse involving a nine-year-old victim. He received five years’ probation and was required to register as a sex offender.
Subsequent convictions included failure to register as a sex offender in November 2000 and driving while intoxicated with probation violation in August 2001, leading to incarceration and eventual deportation to Ecuador in October 2003. Officials said that after his removal, Maita illegally returned and faced additional charges including operating under the influence (November 2006), failure to register (April 2007), unlawful reentry (October 2008), followed by another removal in August 2009.
Authorities reported that Maita unlawfully reentered again, using an alias when arrested by Connecticut State Police on September 20, 2025 for driving offenses including operation without a license and under the influence of alcohol or drugs. He was released on bond but subsequently charged with unlawful reentry by federal authorities on November 4, before being located and arrested by ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations officers on March 18, 2026 in Waterbury.
Judge Oliver has scheduled sentencing for July 2; Maita faces up to twenty years imprisonment if convicted at sentencing.
The investigation is being conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations unit; prosecution is led by Assistant U.S. Attorney Neeraj N. Patel. The case forms part of Operation Take Back America—a Department of Justice initiative aimed at addressing illegal immigration issues.
