Prison guard accused of torturing prisoners deported to Brazil

ALEXANDRIA, La. - A man wanted for torturing prisoners in Brazil in 2005 was deported on Tuesday and turned over to Brazilian authorities Wednesday morning by officers from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO).

Helio Nogueira-Santos, 44, a citizen of Brazil, was transported via commercial airline and turned over to authorities April 27 in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

In October 2003, Nogueira-Santos, worked as a jailer at Francisco Floriano De Paula Penitentiary, located in the city of Govemador Valadares, Minas Gerais State, Brazil. He allegedly tortured insurgent prisoners, causing grave bodily injuries to some prisoners, and causing the death of a prisoner.

"ICE works closely with our international law enforcement partners to identify, locate and deport aliens who are wanted in their home countries for allegedly committing heinous crimes," said Philip Miller, field office director of ICE ERO in New Orleans. "We will not allow criminal aliens to use the United States as a safe haven from their crimes." Miller oversees a five-state area comprised of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas and Tennessee.

Nogueira-Santos illegally entered the United States on June 27, 2004, at or near Hidalgo, Texas, without being admitted or paroled by an immigration officer. ICE fugitive operations officers arrested Nogueira-Santos after an investigation revealed his location in the United States.

The removal was coordinated with the following ICE programs: the ICE Office of International Affairs, ICE Attaché Brazil, ICE Flight Operations, and the ICE Office of Chief Counsel in New Orleans.