A Brazilian national living illegally in Boston, Gabriel Nascimento De Andrade, pleaded guilty on March 6 to conspiring to obtain driver’s licenses for individuals not eligible for them, mainly illegal aliens. U.S. District Court Judge Margaret R. Guzman scheduled sentencing for April 9.
The case highlights ongoing efforts by authorities to address fraudulent schemes that allow ineligible individuals to obtain official identification documents. Such cases can have implications for public safety and the integrity of government systems.
According to court documents, from November 2020 through September 2024, Nascimento De Andrade and four co-conspirators helped illegal aliens residing in states where they could not legally get driver’s licenses. Before July 2023, Massachusetts did not permit illegal aliens to obtain licenses, while New York began allowing it in 2019. The group allegedly arranged for customers from Massachusetts and other states to fraudulently receive New York or Massachusetts licenses by providing false residency documents and circumventing testing requirements.
In one instance described by prosecutors, Nascimento De Andrade accepted $450 in cash from a customer at a Plymouth Registry of Motor Vehicles branch parking lot in exchange for a fake cable bill showing a false Massachusetts address. The group also created fraudulent driver’s education certificates and forged signatures from driving school staff. They reportedly drove customers from Massachusetts to New York DMV locations with fake documents and managed the mailing of permits and licenses through addresses they controlled.
Authorities say the conspiracy involved more than 1,000 applications, resulting in over 600 fraudulent licenses issued and hundreds of thousands of dollars collected. Two other defendants have already been sentenced: Cesar Agusto Marin Reis received 290 days in prison, while Helbert Costa Generoso was sentenced to nine months.
Nascimento De Andrade faces up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release, a fine up to $250,000, and deportation after serving any sentence imposed. United States Attorney Leah B. Foley said the investigation involved cooperation among several agencies including Homeland Security Investigations and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
The remaining defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.