Federal authorities have arrested a convicted sex offender and illegal alien hiding out in Maine, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.
The Maine Violent Offender Task Force apprehended Esteban Chavez-Gonzalez, 35, in Gray on a federal warrant for illegal re-entry, the agency said Thursday.
Based on the warrant, federal authorities have concluded that Chavez-Gonzalez, who has used multiple aliases and does not have a social security number, is present in the U.S. illegally. The press release did not reveal his country of origin.
It’s unclear how he was able to remain in the U.S. for nearly three years as a convicted sex offender listed on the sex offender registry.
Chavez-Gonzalez is classified as a Level 2 registered sex offender in Massachusetts stemming from a 2022 conviction for indecent assault and battery on a person aged 14 or older, according to the Commonwealth’s Sex Offender Registry Board.
Investigators in the U.S. Marshals District of Massachusetts developed leads indicating Chavez-Gonzalez had moved to Maine. Acting on that information, the Maine Violent Offender Task Force located and arrested him at a residence in Gray. He is expected to appear in federal court in Maine before extradition to Massachusetts.
“This arrest reflects the kind of coordination and vigilance the U.S. Marshals Service and our task force partners are capable of,” said Supervisory Deputy U.S. Marshal Ryan Guay, who oversees operations in Maine.
“There is no safe haven for violent or sexual offenders in Maine. We are committed to removing them from our communities,” he said. “We respond with precision, speed, and resolve. Justice doesn’t stop at borders and neither do we.”
The Maine Violent Offender Task Force includes members from the U.S. Marshals Service, Maine Department of Corrections, Biddeford Police Department, U.S. Border Patrol, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Maine National Guard Counterdrug Task Force, and the Coast Guard Investigative Service.
Currently, left-wing activists and some Democratic elected officials are pressuring Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) to sign LD 1971, a bill that has already passed through the legislature and would limit the ability of local law enforcement to cooperate with federal immigration authorities.
