Woburn Father And Son Among 3 Charged With Forced Labor Conspiracy

BOSTON, MA — A father and son from Woburn and a relative who lives in Brazil were charged with forced labor conspiracy Tuesday after they allegedly conspired to smuggle migrants into the U.S. to work at their restaurants and then withheld pay and subjected the victims to threats of serious harm, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Massachusetts announced.

Jesse James Moraes, 65, and Hugo Giovanni Moraes, 43, both of Woburn, and Chelbe Willams Moraes, 62, of Minas Gerais, Brazil, were charged in federal court with forced labor conspiracy, Jesse Moraes and Huge Moraes were charged with forced labor and attempted forced labor and Jesse Moraes was charged with human trafficking and attempting labor trafficking and money laundering conspiracy, according to authorities.

The trio previously was charged with encouraging and inducing, conspiring to encourage and induce, an alien to come to, enter and reside in the U.S. for the purpose of commercial advantage or private financial gain.

Chelbe Moraes, who is the brother of Jesse Moraes and uncle of Hugo Moraes, also faces additional charges of money laundering conspiracy and money laundering with intent to promote the smuggling operation and conceal the source of smuggling proceeds.

According to court documents, Chelbe Moraes and co-conspirators smuggled migrants from Brazil to the U.S. for a fee of approximately $18,000 to $22,000.

Once the migrants were in the U.S., Jesse Moraes and Hugo Moraes allegedly recruited them to work at their Woburn restaurants — Taste of Brazil/Tudo Na Brasa and The Dog House Bar and Grill — promising good jobs and arranging for the victims to share a rental apartment owned by the Moraes family, authorities said.

However, it is alleged that Jesse Moares and Huge Moraes withheld wages from the victims in order to pay off the victim's smuggling debts. Plus, the father and son allegedly forced the victims to work long hours, often performing manual labor, while threatening the victims with financial harm, physical harm and deportation in order to prevent them from quitting or demanding better pay and working conditions, according to authorities.

Additionally, authorities allege that Chelbe Moraes, Jesse Moraes and Hugo Moraes gave or offered to give fake documentation to the victims in order to support the victims' asylum claims or false claims of work authorization.

According to authorities, the charges of forced labor, attempted forced labor and forced labor conspiracy provide for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, up to five years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.

The charge of labor trafficking and attempted labor trafficking provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, up to five years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.

The charge of encouraging and inducing and conspiring to encourage and induce an alien to come to, enter, and reside in the U.S. for private financial gain, provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.

The charges of money laundering and money laundering conspiracy provide 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 involved in the transaction, whichever is greater.

"This case is another stark example of the human trafficking that's happening every single day in our country and our Commonwealth and the heinous lengths some employers go to in the pursuit of profit," said U.S. Attorney Rachael S. Rollins. "It is alleged that these defendants conspired to take advantage of the American dream. Individuals seeking to come to the United States for a better life to benefit themselves and their families were allegedly taken advantage of and deceived."

In March, Stavros Papantoniadis, the owner of Stash's, a Boston-area chain of Pizza restaurants, was charged with forced labor and attempted forced labor, connected to the violent treatment of undocumented workers.

Papantoniadis allegedly targeted victims who lacked immigration status, employed them at depressed wages and for long hours, and then got them to comply by using violence, threatening violence or threatening to contact immigration officials.