Woburn father and son plead guilty to smuggling migrants for financial gain

A Woburn father and son pleaded guilty to conspiring to smuggle migrants into the United States from Brazil, the U.S. attorney's office for Massachusetts said Thursday in a statement.

Jesse James Moraes, 66, and Hugo Giovanni Moraes, 45, were charged with encouraging undocumented migrants to come to the country, "knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that such coming to, entry, or residence is or will be in violation of law, for commercial advantage or private financial gain."

Jesse James Moraes also pleaded guilty to money laundering the proceeds of the conspiracy, according to the office.

Prosecutors in acting U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy's office say the Moraeses recruited migrants in Brazil to travel to the U.S. through Mexico without authorization and charged them $12,000 to $22,000 each for the Moraeses' aid. They encouraged the migrants to make false claims of asylum or children in the U.S.

The family owns two restaurants in Woburn: Taste of Brazil (Tudo Na Brasa) and and The Dog House Bar and Grill. Once the migrants arrived, the Moraeses helped them find housing, including in apartments owned by relatives, and employed them at their restaurants. They paid the migrants at least partly in cash, according to the prosecutors.

The migrants paid some of the smuggling fees once they reached the U.S. — either with money from relatives or friends, or by the withholding of wages from the restaurants.

The smuggling conspiracy charges bring a sentence of up to 10 years in prison per person smuggled, up to three years of supervised release and a fine up to $250,000. The money laundering charge allows for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $500,000 — or twice the amount of the transaction, whichever is higher.

The men are scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 11, 2025.