BRAZILIAN FUGITIVE FOUND IN PORT ST. LUCIE PLEADS GUILTY TO IMMIGRATION FRAUD AND WEAPON CHARGES
Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Anthony V. Mangione, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Homeland Security Investigations, Miami Field Office, Randy D. Donnelson, Director of Air Operations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and John V. Gillies, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Miami Field Office, announced the June 28, 2010 guilty plea of Geraldo Ricardo Miranda, 43, of Port St. Lucie.
Yesterday, Miranda pleaded guilty to possessing a gun as an illegal alien, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 922(g) and making a false statement on a U.S. passport application, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1546(a).
According to the criminal complaint affidavit filed on April 2, 2010, ICE special agents received information from Interpol that a Brazilian fugitive named Geraldo Ricardo Miranda was wanted for a homicide in Brazil and was living in Port St. Lucie. Subsequent investigation revealed that Miranda applied for and received a Florida driver’s license, in 2004 while in Boca Raton, by supplying fraudulent documents, including a Commonwealth of Puerto Rico birth certificate, social security card, and a U.S. military DD-214 with a Brazilian Driver’s license.
According to the stipulated factual basis in support of the guilty plea filed on June 28, 2010, Miranda applied for a United States Passport in Ft. Pierce on May 27, 2009. Miranda presented a fraudulent birth certificate from the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, a fraudulently obtained social security number, and a fraudulently obtained Florida driver’s license. The passport was refused and never issued.
According to statements made on June 15, 2010, during a suppression hearing before United States Magistrate Judge Frank J. Lynch, ICE and FBI special agents arrested Miranda on April 1, 2010, as he was leaving his Port St. Lucie home. During the arrest, in reply to questions asked for officer safety, Miranda admitted to federal agents that he possessed a gun hidden in his bedroom. ICE and FBI special agents entered the home and recovered a .40 caliber Glock and thirty-two .40 caliber Winchester cartridges from Miranda’s upstairs bedroom. After his arrest, Miranda admitted to agents that his Puerto Rican birth certificate was false. Using fingerprints received from Brazilian authorities, federal agents confirmed that Miranda was born in Brazil, had no permission to be in the United States and therefore, was an illegal alien who cannot legally possess a gun. Miranda later admitted to ICE agents that he initially entered the United States as a B-2 visitor for pleasure in 1989, and after returning to Brazil, reentered the United States without documentation or inspection approximately eight years ago.
Miranda faces a maximum statutory sentence of 10 years in prison on each count of being an illegal alien in possession of a gun and making a false statement on a U.S. passport application.
Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations in Ft. Pierce, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation with the assistance of the Florida Highway Patrol, U.S. Department of State Bureau of Diplomatic Security and CBP’s Air and Marine Interdiction Units in Fort Pierce for their work on this case. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Carmen Lineberger.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
