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Brazilian National Sentenced to Over One Year in Prison for Perjury
BOSTON, Massachusetts – Antonio Jose De Abreu Vidal Filho, a 31-year-old Brazilian national residing in Malden, Mass., was sentenced to 16 months in prison for lying on his asylum application and at an immigration hearing.
De Abreu was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Denise J. Casper in federal court in Boston. He is subject to deportation upon completion of the imposed sentence.
In February 2025, De Abreu pleaded guilty to two counts of perjury. In May 2024, he was indicted by a federal grand jury.
De Abreu’s crimes date back to April 2014, when he joined the Ceara State Military Police in Brazil. In the early morning hours of Nov. 12, 2015, De Abreu and numerous other Brazilian military police officers 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 killings were in retaliation for the death of another police officer who was attempting to defend his wife who was being assaulted. In total, 11 people, mostly teenagers, were murdered and many others seriously injured and tortured. This incident has come to be known as A Chacina do Curió or The Slaughter of Curió or The Curió Massacre.
De Abreu was arrested on Aug. 31, 2016, and detained by the Brazilian police. He was subsequently released pending trial on May 24, 2017.
Two weeks later, on June 9, 2017, De Abreu applied for a United States non-immigrant B2 visitor visa while in Recife, Brazil. When asked whether he had ever been arrested or convicted for any offense or crime, De Abreu responded ‘no.’
De Abreu used the B2 Visa and travelled to Miami on May 30, 2018. Between May 30, 2018, and Aug. 14, 2023, as a result of the approval of his Visa Application, De Abreu obtained various state driver’s licenses, a social security card, travel documents, and authorizations for employment.
De Abreu applied for asylum on Jan. 29, 2020, 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.
On June 25, 2023, De Abreu was convicted of 11 counts of murder, three counts of attempted murder, and four counts of physical and mental torture in the First Court of Fortaleza, Ceará. That same day, De Abreu was sentenced to 275 years and 11 months in prison and an arrest warrant issued.
On Feb. 9, 2024, De Abreu testified under oath at an immigration hearing conducted by U.S. Immigration Court, falsely claiming that he had never lied to immigration officials and that the only reason he had left off important information on immigration documents filed with the United States government was because he had not yet been arrested.
Key Facts
- State: Massachusetts
- Category: Crime|Violent Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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