Brazilian husband, wife sentenced for human smuggling

MIAMI — Two Brazilian nationals were sentenced in federal court Friday for smuggling undocumented immigrants into the United States for profit. The guilty plea follows an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Juliana Rose Tome-Froes, 36, was sentenced to 60 months in prison, and her husband, Fabio Rodrigues Froes, 49, was sentenced to 46 months in prison for smuggling undocumented immigrants into the United States for private financial gain.

According to plea documents, from at least October 2008 until around September 2010, the defendants organized, operated and managed a human smuggling network that operated in Brazil, France, England, the Bahamas and the United States.

The defendants met with undocumented immigrants and negotiated forms of payment to smuggle them into the United States. Before aliens departed Brazil, the defendants instructed them to act like tourists and explained that the itinerary through Europe would support a tourist cover story.

In exchange for approximately $16,000, Tome-Froes, with assistance from Froes, arranged air transportation from Brazil to Paris, then London and Nassau, Bahamas. Tome-Froes arranged the aliens' lodging in Paris and Nassau. Then, she instructed them to fly to Freeport, Bahamas, where they waited for a group of individuals from South Florida to transport them by boat into the United States.