East Hartford man gets 6 years for promoting prostitution

Oct. 22—HARTFORD — An East Hartford man who was initially charged with trafficking in persons — among the most serious crimes short of murder in Connecticut law — was convicted in a plea bargain this week of three lesser felony counts of third-degree promoting prostitution and sentenced to six years in prison.

The man, Anthony George Varchetta Jr., 61, who lived in a rooming house at 1183 Main St. when the crimes occurred in February 2020, will be on probation for five years after he is released from prison. He will face up to six more years behind bars if he violates probation conditions.

Varchetta accepted the plea bargain Monday in Hartford Superior Court. He was convicted of the promoting prostitution counts under the Alford doctrine, meaning he didn't admit guilt but acknowledged the prosecution had enough evidence for a conviction at trial.

But he admitted he was guilty of failing to appear in court in a misdemeanor assault and disorderly conduct case that East Hartford police had filed against him on March 10, 2020, the first day of the investigation.

The four trafficking-in-persons counts filed against him five months later each could have carried up to 25 years in prison. Varchetta was also charged with numerous other crimes, including several carrying up to 20 years in prison. He was held in lieu of $770,000 bond.

Police learned of the situation when the woman, then 23, approached a police officer working a private duty job on Main Street in the early afternoon of March 10, 2020, according to the affidavit supporting Varchetta's arrest, which provided the following details: When the woman made comments indicating she was a human trafficking victim, the officer called Investigator Courtney Desilet, who came out in plainclothes and an unmarked vehicle.

PROSTITUTION

DEFENDANT: ANTHONY GEORGE VARCHETTA JR., 61, WHO LIVED IN A ROOMING HOUSE AT 1183 MAIN ST. WHEN THE CRIMES OCCURRED IN FEBRUARY 2020.

CONVICTIONS: THREE COUNTS OF THIRD-DEGREE PROMOTING PROSTITUTION; ONE COUNT OF SECOND-DEGREE FAILURE TO APPEAR IN COURT.

SENTENCE: 12 YEARS, SUSPENDED AFTER SIX YEARS IN PRISON, FOLLOWED BY FIVE YEARS' PROBATION.

Desilet reported that the woman told her Varchetta had repeatedly slapped her in the head and face after she received a phone call from a male friend. The woman said she asked her friend to pick her up because Varchetta set up a "date" for her and she didn't want to have sex with the client.

During the assault, the woman told the officer, the "trick" called to say he was in front of their rooming house. She said she offered to go down and get him but actually used that as an excuse to escape.

While Desilet was speaking with the woman in a Main Street doughnut shop, Varchetta walked in and approached them, telling the woman, "You're coming with me," and trying to grab her, the investigator reported. When Desilet identified herself as a police officer, she reported, Varchetta tried to flee, but his car was blocked in by the officer the woman had approached initially.

That's when Varchetta was arrested on the misdemeanor charges.

The woman later told police she had been addicted to drugs since she was 16 and had been living on the street in Hartford when she met Varchetta about 1 1/2 months earlier, while she was engaging in prostitution on Wethersfield Avenue in Hartford.

She said she agreed to have sex with Varchetta for money, which she said eventually evolved into him becoming her boyfriend because she was desperate for a place to live.

She said she initially resisted his demands that she allow him to advertise her prostitution services online but eventually gave in because she was afraid of ending up back on the street. She said he was also supplying her with the powerful opioid fentanyl.

For updates on Glastonbury, and recent crime and courts coverage in North-Central Connecticut, follow Alex Wood on Twitter: @AlexWoodJI1, Facebook: Alex Wood, and Instagram: @AlexWoodJI.

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