Peabody men charged with using immigrants in scheme
Two brothers from Peabody were arrested yesterday for allegedly smuggling illegal immigrants to Massachusetts and forcing them to pay thousands of dollars in debts by working at their businesses, prosecutors said.
Mario Viana, 39, and Julio Viana, 37, also were charged with running an unlicensed money-transmitting business that over seven months last year sent more than $1 million within the United States and abroad, prosecutors said. Neither the men nor their attorneys could be reached for comment last night.
An affidavit by an agent for the Department of Homeland Security's US Immigration and Customs Enforcement office indicated that Mario Viana allegedly required the illegal immigrants he helped bring to the United States to provide him with a property deed in their countries.
Viana, who owns the Family Market convenience store in Peabody, allegedly used the deeds as collateral, to ensure the immigrants didn't flee their jobs. He also charged monthly interest between 5 and 7 percent until the immigrants paid off their smuggling fees.
It was not clear last night the number of people the brothers helped bring to the country, but the affidavits cite at least four undocumented immigrants from Brazil.
One of the immigrants, Adilson DeSouza, told investigators he was charged $7,000 to be smuggled into the United States in 2002. He originally worked at Louisiana Travel in Amesbury, another business owned by Mario Viana, to pay off his debt. He worked there for a year, investigators said, and all his wages allegedly went to paying off his smuggling debt.
The Vianas later allegedly required DeSouza to work at Family Market. They closed Louisiana Travel after a Brazilian newspaper disclosed the agency was used to smuggle people to the United States, investigators said. Mario Viana was charged with bringing illegal immigrants to the United States for commercial advantage and operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business.
Julio Viana was charged with operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business and structuring transactions to evade reporting requirements. He allegedly transferred about $1.2 million to four companies in Florida. Deposits were kept under $10,000 to avoid reporting requirements by banks.
Both men were arraigned yesterday in federal District Court in Worcester and held without bail pending a detention hearing scheduled for tomorrow.
If convicted, Mario Viana faces up to 10 years in prison on the immigrant smuggling charge and five years in prison for operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business.
Julio Viana faces five years in prison on the operating an unlicensed money remittal business charge and five years in prison on the structuring charge.
Both also face up to three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine on each of the charges.
