Thread: MA: Immigrant sentenced in bribery case

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massac ... bery_case/

NEW ENGLAND IN BRIEF
Immigrant sentenced in bribery case

January 24, 2007

A federal judge sentenced an undocumented immigrant who operated an Allston cleaning company to five years in prison for harboring other undocumented immigrants and bribing an immigration official. US District Judge Morris E. Lasker also ordered Jose Neto, 40, to forfeit to the government a multifamily residence he owns in Allston. Neto, who employed 50 people at Spectro Cleaning Services, offered a customs agent $20,000 in September 2004 to get green cards for himself and his wife, then paid him another $147,000 for green cards for friends and to obtain the release of others from federal custody.

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stori ... 627&EDATE=

Brazilian Sentenced for Bribery and Harboring of Illegal Aliens, Reports U.S. Attorney



BOSTON, Jan. 23 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A former Allston man,
himself an illegal alien from Brazil, was sentenced today in federal court
for knowingly harboring illegal aliens and bribing an immigration official.
United States Attorney Michael J. Sullivan; Bruce M. Foucart, Special
Agent in Charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office of
Investigations in New England; and Steven Mocsary, Special Agent in Charge
of the U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement Office of Professional
Responsibility for the Eastern Region, announced that JOSE NETO, age 40,
formerly of 33 Blaine Street in Allston, was sentenced by Senior U.S.
District Judge Morris E. Lasker to five years in prison, to be followed by
two years of supervised release. In addition, a multifamily residence in
Allston where NETO previously resided has been ordered forfeited to the
United States. Upon completion of his term of imprisonment, NETO faces
deportation to his native Brazil.
On May 10, 2006, a trial jury convicted NETO of knowingly harboring
illegal aliens. Prior to the trial, on April 3, 2006, NETO had pled guilty
to charges of bribing an immigration official, inducing illegal aliens to
remain in the country and having a pattern or practice of knowingly
employing illegal aliens. The sentence imposed today by the court reflects
both NETO's trial conviction and guilty plea.
NETO was among approximately 700 suspected foreign nationals who were
directed to report to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the
wake of an investigation into the fraudulent sale of identity records. When
NETO reported to the ICE office, he offered to pay the interviewing agent a
bribe to assist NETO and his wife with their immigration status. The ICE
agent, operating undercover, arranged to meet NETO at a nearby mall. NETO
paid the agent $20,000 in cash for Green Cards (i.e. documentation for
legal permanent residency) for himself and his wife. In subsequent
meetings, between October 2004 and March 2005, NETO paid the undercover ICE
agent more than $147,000 in additional bribes, mostly for Green Cards but
some to obtain the release of individuals from ICE custody.
At the time of NETO's arrest, ICE Agents interviewed over 50 employees
of a company that NETO operated, Spectro Cleaning Services, all of whom
were identified by ICE as unauthorized aliens.
Evidence presented during the three-day trial proved that, between 2003
and 2005, the NETO knowingly harbored illegal aliens from Brazil in an
apartment he leased in Agawam and in a house he owned in Allston. NETO also
employed some of the individuals he harbored and offered to sell others
identification documents.
The case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Levenson in Sullivan's
Public Corruption and Special Prosecutions Unit.