Saving Seafood

Former captain in Bristol sheriff’s department gets one year probation in Codfather smuggling case

November 6, 2018 — He got caught in the net, but he avoided prison.

A former captain with the Bristol County Sheriff’s Office was sentenced Monday to a year of probation for helping the infamous New Bedford fishing magnate dubbed the Codfather smuggle profits from his overfishing scheme to Portugal, prosecutors said.

The convict and former captain, Jamie Melo, 46, of North Dartmouth, learned his fate during a sentencing hearing in US District Court in Boston, according to US Attoney Andrew E. Lelling’s office.

A jury in that courthouse convicted Melo in June of conspiracy to commit offenses against the United States and structuring the export of monetary instruments, Lelling’s office said in a statement.

Melo was acquitted of bulk cash smuggling, the release said. He’ll be confined to his home during the first eight months of his yearlong probation, according to Lelling’s office.

“During the trial, evidence showed that while at Logan International Airport Melo asked his friends and travel companions to carry envelopes of cash for [Codfather Carlos] Rafael on a flight to the Azores in Portugal,” the release said. “At the time, Melo was an Administrative Captain with the Bristol County Sheriff’s Office and was traveling to the Azores with Rafael for a charity event sponsored by the Bristol County Sheriff’s Office. Prior to the flight, Melo asked three of his travel companions to follow him into the men’s bathroom at Logan Airport before going through the TSA Security Checkpoint.”

Read the full story at The Boston Globe

Bristol, Mass. sheriff’s captain charged with smuggling in Carlos Rafael case

August 31, 2017 — BOSTON — A captain with the Bristol County Sheriff’s Office was arrested and charged late Wednesday in connection with helping Carlos Rafael, the owner of one of the largest commercial fishing businesses in the U.S., smuggle the profits of his illegal overfishing scheme to Portugal, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

James Melo, 45, of North Dartmouth, was charged with one count each of bulk cash smuggling, structuring and conspiracy. He was released on a $10,000 unsecured bond following his appearance in federal court in Boston on Wednesday afternoon, authorities said.

In May 2015, federal agents began an undercover operation targeting Carlos Rafael, the owner of one of the largest commercial fishing businesses in the U.S. In the fall of 2015, undercover agents, posing as potential buyers of Rafael’s business, met with Rafael to negotiate buying his fishing business. Rafael told the agents that he hid the cash proceeds of his illegal fishing sales, in part, by smuggling the money to Portugal. Rafael said that he sometimes took the money himself, but also used the services of others, and referred to knowing several members of the Bristol County Sheriff’s Office, including Melo, whom he described as, “the captain at the prison,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a statement sent to news media.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

Indicted fishing magnate Carlos Rafael granted later curfew to work longer hours on waterfront

June 30, 2016 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — Indicted fishing magnate Carlos Rafael has been granted a later curfew to work longer hours this summer, according to court documents.

“With the arrival of summer, and more activities on the waterfront, Mr. Rafael is needed on the docks to tend to various issues regarding his fishing vessels,” stated a request filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court. “With daylight extending to past 8:30 p.m. throughout the summer months, the present conditions of release prevent Mr. Rafael from working until sundown as is his usual practice.”

Magistrate Judge David H. Hennessey, who set Rafael’s bond conditions in March, granted the request Wednesday. The change enables Rafael to return to his North Dartmouth home by 8:30 p.m. nightly, rather than the initial, 7 p.m. curfew.

Rafael, 64, remains released on bond totaling $2 million. Bond conditions require him to wear electronic monitoring equipment.

He is scheduled for a January 2017 trial on 27 counts of federal charges including conspiracy, false entries and bulk cash smuggling. Also facing trial then is alleged smuggling accomplice Antonio M. Freitas, a 46-year-old Taunton resident and Bristol County Sheriff’s Office deputy, suspended without pay. Freitas faces two federal counts, one for bulk cash smuggling and one for international structuring.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times