A Brazilian national convicted for his role in murdering 11 people, mostly teenagers, in retaliation for the death of a police officer in his home country, has pleaded guilty in Boston federal court for lying on his asylum application and at an immigration hearing.
Antonio Jose De Abreu Vidal Filho, a 31-year-old known for his involvement in the 2015 Slaughter of Curió, who has lived in Malden, has pleaded guilty to two counts of perjury. He’s scheduled to be sentened May 29.
De Abreu reportedly never disclosed his arrest in the brutal killings when applying for a U.S. visa after the massacre in November 2015, according to the Massachusetts U.S. Attorney’s Office.
At an immigration hearing last February, De Abreu “falsely” claimed that he had “never lied” to immigration officials, testifying under oath that he left off important information on documents filed with the feds “because he had not yet been arrested.”
A federal grand jury indicted De Abreu last May for using and possessing a fraudulently obtained visa to enter the US and lying on his asylum application.
Brazilian authorities charged 45 individuals in connection with the Slaughter of Curió, arresting and detaining De Abreu on Aug. 31, 2016. He was then released pending trial on May 24, 2017.
Two weeks later, while in Recife, Brazil, De Abreu responded “no” when asked on an application for a US non-immigrant B2 visitor visa whether he had ever been arrested or convicted for any offense or crime.
The U.S. Department of State approved De Abreu’s application later that June, issuing him the “B2 Visa based upon his false representations,” the Massachusetts U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a release on Thursday.
De Abreu used the visa to travel to Miami on May 30, 2018. He then gained “various state driver’s licenses, a social security card, travel documents and authorizations for employment.”
“De Abreu applied for asylum on Jan. 29, 2020,” the release states, “and lied when asked whether he had ever been accused, charged, arrested, detained, interrogated and imprisoned in any country other than the United States.”
“He also failed to disclose his arrest and detention in Brazil when he applied for adjustment of status with United States Citizenship and Immigration Service,” it adds.
A court in Ceara, Brazil sentenced De Abreu in June 2023 to 275 years and 11 months in prison, and an arrest warrant was issued. He was convicted that same day of 11 counts of murder, three counts of attempted murder and four counts of physical and mental torture.
After the conviction, De Abreu became the subject of an Interpol Red Notice, an international wanted notice.
Agents with Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston arrested the former Brazilian military police officer in Rye, N.H., on Aug. 14, 2023.
“The apprehension of this very dangerous foreign fugitive is an outstanding example of the professionalism and expertise of the officers of ERO Boston,” then-ERO Boston Field Office Director Todd Lyons said in a release. “We are proud to have taken this notorious criminal, convicted of participating in multiple heinous murders in Brazil, off our streets.”
Lyons is now acting head of ICE ERO for the nation.
In April 2014, De Abreu joined the Ceara State Military Police – Brazilian state forces that, following the rule of the governor, conduct “first-line policing on the street,” according to the Massachusetts U.S. Attorney’s Office.
“In the early morning hours of Nov. 12, 2015, numerous Brazilian military police officers including De Abreu, participated in a mass killing event of primarily young people from the impoverished neighborhoods of Barroso, Messejana, Guajeru, Curió and Lagoa Redonda in the capital of Ceará,” the office said in its release.
“The killings were in retaliation for the death of another police officer who was attempting to defend his wife who was being assaulted.”