Brazilian Citizen Who Ran Smuggling Organization Going To Prison For More Than 2 Years

CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE: (716) 843-5817
FAX #: (716) 551-3051

BUFFALO, N.Y. - U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Tiago Mello-Lima, 34, a Brazilian citizen living in Canada, who was convicted of bringing aliens to the United States for commercial advantage or private financial gain, was sentenced to serve 27 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Kruly, who handled the case, stated that the defendant managed and supervised a smuggling organization. Specifically, on April 28, 2019, while in Ontario, Canada, Mello-Lima and two other individuals, including co-defendant Renan Portela Bandeira De Souza, launched a boat, containing four alien passengers who were not citizens or nationals of the United States, into the Niagara River. In prior negotiations with two of the aliens, the defendant agreed to charge each alien approximately $6,000 to bring them to the United States. Mello-Lima drove the boat from Canada to the United States landing on Grand Island, NY. The four aliens disembarked, and the defendant returned the boat to a dock in Canada. Mello-Lima planned the April 28, 2019, smuggling and arranged for a U.S.-based individual to pick up the aliens on Grand Island and drive them to their final destinations in the United States. Between March 17 and July 2019, Mello-Lima smuggled or aided and abetted the smuggling of six more aliens into the United States.

Co-defendant Renan Portela Bandeira De Souza also pleaded guilty to bringing aliens to the United States for commercial advantage or private financial gain and was sentenced to serve 21 months in prison by Judge Arcara.

The sentencing is the result of an investigation by U.S. Border Patrol Buffalo Sector, under the direction of Acting Chief Patrol Agent Andrew Scharnweber, and Homeland Security Investigations, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Kevin Kelly. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided substantial assistance in the extradition of the defendant from Canada to the United States in March 2020.

# # # #