PROVIDENCE – A 30-year-old Rhode Island man pled guilty in U.S. District Court on Thursday to charges that he enticed a 12-year-old Burrillville girl to engage in multiple sexual encounters and later launched a murder-for-hire plot in a scheme to eliminate her as a witness.
Chandler Cardente is now scheduled to be sentenced on Wednesday, April 23 on charges of enticement of a minor, commission of a felony while being required to register as a sex offender and interstate murder for hire. The sentence imposed will be determined by a federal district judge after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors, according to an announcement from Acting United States Attorney Sara Miron Bloom.
Court documents reflect that in the summer of 2021, Cardente posed as a 17-year-old while communicating with the minor victim via a messaging app, and told the victim that he was interested in having sexual contact with her. In December 2021, he met the girl a short distance from Burrillville Middle School, drove her to various locations in Rhode Island and engaged in sexual contact with her multiple times. Cardente was subsequently arrested and detained in state custody.
While being held at the Adult Correctional Institutions, Cardente reportedly communicated by telephone with another person, expressing his intent that the victim be murdered. In a conversation with a law enforcement officer acting in an undercover capacity, Cardente told the officer that the victim needed “to end up dead” because she was a witness, and offered $200 in cash and equipment worth $1,500.
He had been previously convicted in Rhode Island state court for child molestation and required to register as a sex offender.
The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations; the Warwick, Cranston, and Burrillville Police Departments; Rhode Island State Police; and the Rhode Island Department of Corrections Special Investigations Unit.
Cardente is facing both federal and state prosecution, and is currently being held without bail. The case in U.S. District Court is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Milind Shah.
