The U.S. Marshals Service arrested Christopher Mitchell, 45, of St. Croix after a grand jury being indicted him for failing to register as a sex offender, U.S. Attorney Ronald W. Sharpe announced.

Mitchell appeared in U.S. District Court on St. Croix before U.S. Magistrate Judge George W. Cannon and was released on conditions.

According to court documents, Mitchell was convicted in 1998 of a sex offense under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act of 2006, a person convicted of a sex offense is required to register with local authorities as a sex offender. The failure to do so is a crime under federal law.

The indictment charging Mitchell alleges that he failed to register as a sex offender as required by the law, Sharpe said.

If convicted, Mitchell faces as much as 10 years in prison and fines of as much as $250,000.

The case was investigated by the Marshals Service and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Everard E. Potter.