A 30-year-old Rhode Island man previously convicted in a state court for child molestation and ordered to register as a sex offender, admitted to a federal judge today that, in a separate matter, he enticed a 12-year-old girl to engage in multiple sexual encounters and later launched a murder-for-hire plot in a scheme to eliminate her as a witness, announced Acting United States Attorney Sara Miron Bloom.
Chandler J. Cardente pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court today to enticement of a minor, commission of a felony while being required to register as a sex offender, and interstate murder for hire. Cardente is scheduled to be sentenced on April 23, 2025.
Cardente Posed as 17-Year-Old to Engage in Sexual Contact with the Victim
According to court documents, in the summer of 2021, Cardente posed as a 17-year-old and began communicating with the minor victim via a messaging app. He told the victim that he was interested in having sexual contact with her.
In December 2021, he met the girl a short distance from her 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.
Cardente Asked an Undercover Officer to Kill the Victim from Prison, Offered $200 in Cash and Equipment Worth $1,500
While being held at the Adult Correctional Institutions, Cardente 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." He offered the undercover officer $200 in cash and equipment worth $1,500. Cardente, facing both federal and state prosecution in this matter, is currently being held without bail at the ACI.
