Brazilian who man stole $6,000 in unemployment assistance to spend 6 months in prison

MassLive.com

A judge sentenced a Brazilian national to six months in prison for stealing just over $6,000 in pandemic unemployment assistance by illegally using another person’s name and social security number after he came to the country unlawfully.

Marcos Antonio De Carvalho Vicente, 61, who has lived in Fall River for 34 years, received unemployment checks after submitting a fraudulent application, though the state Department of Unemployment Assistance stopped payments after they flagged a “suspected identity issue,” U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins’ office said.

De Carvalho Vicente was charged alongside six other defendants who used social security numbers and other identifying information to get driver’s licenses, MassHealth Benefits, and unemployment assistance under the federal CARES Act, Rollins office previously said.

De Carvalho Vincente pleaded guilty to false representation of a social security number and theft of government money in a deal with federal lawyers. Court documents say he stole $6,003 in pandemic unemployment benefits.

Federal Judge Denise Casper ordered De Carvalho Vicente to pay back the $6,003 to the state’s Department of Unemployment Assistance and imposed three years of supervised release. He is required to self-surrender on Dec. 9.

De Carvalho Vincente’s attorney, Thomas Kerner, said he has had no convictions since several operating under the influence incidents in 1991 and has been working “as best he can because of his lack of a social security card.”

“He has not been able to gain employment under his own name, that is why he was using the identification that was passed on to him by somebody else that had obtained it before they left the country,” Kerner said.

He faced up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine for using a false social security number and up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine for stealing government money.

Former President Donald Trump signed the CARES Act into law in March 2020, just as the COVID-19 pandemic was tightening its stranglehold on daily life and forcing many businesses to shut down.

The law created a temporary federal unemployment assistance program that provided benefits to people who were not eligible for other types of unemployment.

The CARES Act also created another federal pandemic unemployment assistance program that provided an additional $600 weekly payment.

Charging documents say De Carvalho Vicente admitted to agents that he purchased a fake identity from a friend and used it to apply for unemployment benefits. He also used the fake identity to obtain a Massachusetts Identity Card.

At Wednesday’s court hearing, De Carvalho Vicente addressed Judge Casper through a translator.

“I want to ask for forgiveness for the crime I committed,” he said. “I’ve been here for so long. I have a daughter, she is right behind me, that I take care of her financially. I’ll take any consequences at this point. And I just want to say one more time that I am very, very sorry.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin Tolkoff said the Department of Homeland Security has not yet taken action against De Carvalho Vicente, though he said it is common for DHS to wait until criminal proceedings are over.

“And what they will do in a case like this, frankly, I do not know,” he said.