Registered sex offender offered up $200 to have 12-year-old ‘witness’ killed, feds say
While sitting in prison, a registered sex offender offered to pay $200 to have a 12-year-old “witness” killed, according to federal prosecutors.
Chandler John Cardente, 28, of Rhode Island, said the girl needed “to end up dead” while speaking over the phone using a state prison telephone, prosecutors say. During the call, Cardente asked another person to kill the child in February, court documents show.
That call comes after Cardente messaged the girl on social media several times before illegally having sexual contact with her in December, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Rhode Island. He was arrested and placed in state custody as a result.
Now a federal grand jury has charged Cardente with enticing a minor, committing a felony involving a minor as a registered sex offender and interstate murder-for-hire, a Sept. 14 news release from the attorney’s office says.
What Cardente didn’t know during the call he made from state prison was that he was actually on the line with an undercover state police detective, WPRI reported.
Alongside offering $200 as payment to kill his victim, Cardente also offered the undercover detective $1,500 worth of equipment, prosecutors say.
Specifically, he offered to give the officer tattoo equipment, according to WPRI.
The detective tried providing Cardente an opportunity to rethink his murder-for-hire offer, but Cardente said “I’m going to go to sleep at night so, I’m fine with it. I just need it done before I get indicted,” the outlet reported.
If convicted on the charge for enticing a minor, Cardente could face up to life in prison for that charge alone, according to the release.
Cardente is due back in court for an arraignment on Sept. 19, court records show.
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