David X. Sullivan, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced charges against Darwin Francisco Quituizaca-Duchitanga, a 39-year-old Ecuadorian national. Quituizaca has been charged with illegally reentering the United States after deportation.
According to court documents and statements, in December 2003, Quituizaca was found by U.S. Border Patrol using an alias, Juan Mendez-Gutierrez. He was issued a voluntary return to Mexico after claiming Mexican citizenship.
In March 2018, Quituizaca was arrested by Connecticut State Police under the alias Darwin Duchitanga-Quituizaca for a fatal motor vehicle accident on I-91 in North Haven in March 2017. ICE encountered him in August 2018 and arrested him on an administrative warrant while he awaited trial on state charges. An immigration judge ordered his removal to Ecuador in September 2018, but he was transferred to state custody for pending charges. In January 2019, he was convicted of manslaughter second degree and sentenced to 30 months imprisonment. He was later released from state prison on an unspecified date and removed to Ecuador in September 2023 following another ICE arrest in August 2023.
It is alleged that Quituizaca reentered the U.S. illegally and was arrested again by ICE on June 28, 2025, in Meriden.
Quituizaca appeared today in Hartford federal court. If convicted of unlawful reentry, he faces up to ten years imprisonment.
U.S. Attorney Sullivan emphasized that a complaint is merely a charge and not evidence of guilt. Defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
The case is being investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Enforcement and Removal Operations, and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel George.
This case is part of Operation Take Back America, which uses resources from the Department of Justice to combat illegal immigration and protect communities from violent crime through initiatives like the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).
