East Haven Sex Offender With 30-Year Record Faces Rape Charge: Police

EAST HAVEN, CT —Previously convicted of rape, drug trafficking and gun possession among myriad other crimes, a 55-year-old East Haven man is being held in jail on $150,000 bail on a new rape charge, records show.

Anthony M. Esposito, who the Justice Department said in 2021 was sentenced to 46 months in federal prison for narcotics trafficking and firearm possession offenses and would still be under supervised release, was charged by East Haven police this week.

Records show that Esposito, who federal authorities said is a gang member and goes by the street name "Mafia," has a criminal history that spans 30 years. His convictions include firearm, drug and violent crime offenses, including a 1998 federal conviction for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and a 2003 Connecticut state conviction for first degree sexual assault and for the latter, is on the state's sex offender registry. In the 2003 case, Esposito was convicted of raping a 19-year-old woman at knife point.

In February 2021, he was sentenced to prison for trafficking fentanyl.

In East Haven this week, police charged Esposito with first-degree sexual assault, first-degree unlawful restraint, second-degree threatening/physical threat, third-degree assault, tampering with physical evidence, and disorderly conduct.

Held at the New Haven Correctional Center, Esposito is due in court Sept. 20.