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Brazilian church leaders get U.S. jail time for cash smuggling
More articles on this topic: Renascer / Reborn in Christ ChurchA husband and wife who lead one of Brazil’s largest evangelical churches were sentenced to nearly five months in prison Friday after pleading guilty to smuggling more than $56,000 into the United States hidden in luggage, a child’s backpack and a Bible case.
Estevam Hernandes Filho and his wife, Sonia Haddad Moraes Hernandes, must serve an additional five months of house arrest in the U.S. and pay $60,000 in fines under a sentence imposed by U.S. District Judge Federico Moreno.
Hernandes, 53, is to surrender Monday to begin serving his prison term. His 48-year-old wife will serve her house arrest term first at their home in Boca Raton and then report to prison Jan. 21. Both must also serve a probation period after their 10-month combined sentences are up.
Both were given credit for 10 days they spent in custody after their initial Jan. 8 arrests at Miami International Airport. Their lawyers had asked for probation, and Moreno could have gone as high as 16 months in jail for each of them.
The couple – known as Apostle Estevam and Bishop Sonia to their followers – lead Brazil’s Reborn in Christ Church, which they founded in 1986 and which now claims hundreds of thousands of followers. Brazilian authorities are seeking the couple’s extradition on charges of looting parishioners’ donations for their own use.
Moreno said he did not base his sentence on the possible Brazilian prosecution and accepted the couple’s explanation that the $56,467 they illegally brought into the U.S. was not taken from church donations. That money will be forfeited to the U.S. government.
“I’m not considering the alleged fraud in Brazil. I leave that up to the Brazilian authorities,” Moreno said.
The lengthy hearing took place in a courtroom packed with about 60 family members and supporters, many of whom wept loudly when Moreno delivered his sentence. Dozens of followers also wrote letters to Moreno asking for a lenient sentence.
“They’ve done a lot of good,” the judge said. “Sometimes, you’ve got to do penance.”
Mrs. Hernandes cried as well when she gave a statement to the court. Speaking in Portuguese that was translated into English, Mrs. Hernandes asked Moreno for mercy and said she was sorry for what happened.
“I would just like to declare right here in front of everybody that I am deeply remorseful in my life,” she said.
Hernandes also addressed the court, saying that “for millions of people that believe in us, we have made them suffer.”
“I would like to ask you for your forgiveness, your pity,” Hernandes told the judge, according to the court translation.
Albert Krieger, one of the couple’s lawyers, said they brought the money to the United States as part of a plan to gradually move their permanent residence from Brazil to Boca Raton out of fear they and their families might be targeted by kidnappers. He said the money was hidden in various belongings because the couple worried about thieves at airports.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Armando Rosquete, however, said it was “bizarre” for the church leaders to hide money in a Bible case. “What I see in this case is an element of greed,” he said.
The couple pleaded guilty in June to failing to declare on a customs form that they were carrying more than $10,000 into the United States. They have been under house arrest at their Boca Raton home since Jan. 19.
In a statement released shortly after learning of the sentence, the Reborn in Christ Church said: “In view of the court’s final decision, we reaffirm our belief that “better days will come.”
“We shall continue praying for our Apostle and our Bishop, knowing that once they complete their sentence they will return to guide us. They know that until they return … their flock will continue walking down the path they have pointed out,” the statement said.
Reborn in Christ spokesman Marcio Foffu said the Church had no further comment.
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