Romanian National With Theft Record — And In U.S. Illegally — Enters Plea After Being Snagged In Manchester

MANCHESTER, CT — A Romanian national who was caught in Manchester after illegally re-entering the U.S. is now facing two years in prison for his actions, federal authorities said.

David X. Sullivan, United States attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that Ioan Rostas, 36, entered a guilty plea Tuesday before U.S. District Judge Sarah F. Russell in New Haven to unlawful re-entry of the United States after being deported.

According to court documents and statements made in court, in March 2023, Rostas, who was in immigration removal proceedings in New York and placed into the Alternative to Detention program, absconded from supervision.

In September 2023, an immigration judge ordered Rostas removed from the U.S. to Romania in absentia. In October 2023, law enforcement officials in Berkeley County, WV, arrested Rostas, who was using a false identity, and charged him with obstructing an officer.

On Oct. 25, 2023, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel in Pennsylvania arrested Rostas pursuant to a previously lodged ICE detainer. He was removed from the U.S. on November 17, 2023.

On April 26, 2026, police in Manchester encountered Rostas sitting in a parked vehicle that law enforcement officials in Georgia had been seeking in connection to group that had been committing retail thefts along the east coast of the U.S., Sullivan said.

Rostas initially provided an officer with a forged international license bearing someone else's name, and a search of the vehicle revealed a second forged international license with another person's name, a large amount of new clothing with tags and security devices still attached, and 10 bottles of perfume with “tester” stickers attached, Sullivan said.

Rostas was arrested and charged with state forgery, larceny, interfering with an officer, and criminal impersonation offenses. He was later released on bond and turned over to ICE in Hartford pursuant to an ICE detainer.

Rostas has been detained since his arrest. Sentencing is scheduled for July 13, and he faces a maximum two-year prison term, Sullivan said.