A registered sex offender in Rhode Island has admitted to luring a 12-year-old girl into sexual encounters and then attempting to have her killed to prevent her from testifying.
Chandler J. Cardente, 30, pleaded guilty in federal court to three felony charges, including enticement of a minor and interstate murder-for-hire, according to the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Rhode Island.
Cardente, who was already a registered sex offender after pleading no contest to molesting a 2-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl in 2014, met his 12-year-old victim while posing as a 17-year-old on a messaging app in 2021, according to the US Attorney’s Office.
He told the minor that he wanted to have sex with her, and after several months of talking online, Cardente met the girl near her middle school.
Prosecutors claim he drove her to various locations in Rhode Island and had sexual contact with her several times.
According to the office, he was arrested shortly thereafter and taken into state custody.
According to the US Attorney, while behind bars, Cardente directed a potential hitman — an undercover police officer — to murder the girl because she was “a witness” who needed to be killed.
According to prosecutors, he offered $200 in cash in exchange for $1,500 worth of tattoo equipment.
Cardente pleaded guilty in federal court on March 20 and received a 35-year sentence this week. He is already serving a 35-year state sentence for molesting the child; the federal term will run concurrently, with release scheduled for no earlier than 2056.
