April 19, 2005

PEABODY MAN INDICTED FOR UNLAWFULLY TRANSFERRING FAKE UNITED STATES IDENTIFICATION DOCUMENTS

BOSTON—A federal indictment was unsealed today following the arrest of a Peabody man on a charge of transferring, aiding and abetting the transfer of fake United States identification documents.

United States Attorney Michael J. Sullivan; Robin M. Avers, special agent-in-charge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in New England; Leo J. Sullivan, special agent-in-charge of the U.S. Social Security Administration’s Office of Inspector General announced today that Edivaldo Coutinho, 27, of 63 Central Street, Peabody, Mass., was charged in a four-count Indictment with transferring false identification documents.

According to the Indictment, from Jan. 4, 2005 through March 25, 2005 Coutinho unlawfully transferred ten counterfeit Alien Registration Cards commonly known as “green cards” and ten counterfeit Social Security Account Number Cards.

Coutinho was arrested today and appeared this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Marianne B. Bowler. He remains in federal custody pending a detention hearing scheduled for May 26, 2005. If convicted, Coutinho faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison, to be followed by 5 years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine.

ICE and the U.S. Social Security Administration’s Office of Inspector General investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Antoinett E.M. Leoney in Sullivan’s Major Crimes Unit is prosecuting the case.

The details contained in the Indictment are allegations. The defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was established in March 2003 as the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security. ICE is comprised of five integrated divisions that form a 21st century law enforcement agency with broad responsibilities for a number of key homeland security priorities.