A Brazilian national residing in Woburn, Massachusetts, has pleaded guilty to unlawfully reentering the United States after deportation and selling fraudulent Social Security cards and Green Cards. Liene Tavares DeBarros Jr., aged 40, admitted guilt on May 8, 2025, in a federal court in Boston. The charges include two counts of unlawful transfer of a document or authentication feature and one count of unlawful reentry of a deported alien. U.S. District Court Judge Denise J. Casper set the sentencing date for June 26, 2025.
Tavares DeBarros was previously deported from the United States in July 2010 but reentered the country illegally sometime afterward. In mid-2024, authorities learned that he was involved in selling counterfeit identity documents. An undercover investigation led to his arrest when he sold fake identification documents to law enforcement officers posing as customers.
In October 2024, Tavares DeBarros exchanged a counterfeit Social Security Number Card and a Green Card with an undercover officer for $250. Later, in December 2024, he sold additional counterfeit documents for $500.
The charges related to the unlawful transfer and production of documents could result in up to 15 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and fines reaching $250,000. The charge of unlawful reentry carries potential penalties of up to two years in prison, one year of supervised release, and similar fines. Following any sentence imposed by the court, Tavares DeBarros may face deportation.
The announcement came from several officials: United States Attorney Leah B. Foley; Michael J. Krol Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in New England; Amy Connelly from the Social Security Administration's Office of Inspector General; Jonathan Mellone from the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Inspector General; and Patricia H. Hyde from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations.
Assistant U.S. Attorney John J. Reynolds III is prosecuting this case which was investigated by Homeland Security Investigation’s Document and Benefit Fraud Task Force—an entity focused on combating various types of document fraud schemes through collaboration among state, local, and federal agencies.
