A husband and wife who lead one of Brazil's largest evangelical churches were sentenced to nearly five months in prison on Friday after pleading guilty to smuggling more than US$56,000 into the US hidden in luggage, a child's backpack and a Bible case.
Estevam Hernandes Filho and Sonia Haddad Moraes Hernandes must serve an additional five months of house arrest in the US and pay US$60,000 in fines.
Hernandes, 53, is to surrender tomorrow to begin serving his prison term. His 48-year-old wife will serve her house arrest term first at their Florida home and then report to prison on Jan. 21.
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.
The couple were arrested Jan. 8 at Miami International Airport. They pleaded guilty in June to failing to declare on a customs form that they were carrying more than US$10,000 into the US.
The US judge that said he accepted the couple's explanation that the money they illegally brought into the US was not taken from church donations.
That money will be forfeited to the US government.
"I'm not considering the alleged fraud in Brazil. I leave that up to the Brazilian authorities," Moreno said.
Speaking in Portuguese that was translated into English, Sonia Haddad Hernandes asked 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.
Estevam Hernandes Filho said that "for millions of people that believe in us, we have made them suffer."
Albert Krieger, one of the couple's lawyers, said they brought the money to the US as part of a plan to gradually move their permanent residence from Brazil to Florida 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 US 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.
In a statement released 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.
DOUBLE-MURDER CASE: The officer told the dispatcher he would check the locations of the callers, but instead headed to a pizzeria, remaining there for about an hour A New Jersey officer has been charged with misconduct after prosecutors said he did not quickly respond to and properly investigate reports of a shooting that turned out to be a double murder, instead allegedly stopping at an ATM and pizzeria. Franklin Township Police Sergeant Kevin Bollaro was the on-duty officer on the evening of Aug. 1, when police received 911 calls reporting gunshots and screaming in Pittstown, about 96km from Manhattan in central New Jersey, Hunterdon County Prosecutor Renee Robeson’s office said. However, rather than responding immediately, prosecutors said GPS data and surveillance video showed Bollaro drove about 3km
‘MOTHER’ OF THAILAND: In her glamorous heyday in the 1960s, former Thai queen Sirikit mingled with US presidents and superstars such as Elvis Presley The year-long funeral ceremony of former Thai queen Sirikit started yesterday, with grieving royalists set to salute the procession bringing her body to lie in state at Bangkok’s Grand Palace. Members of the royal family are venerated in Thailand, treated by many as semi-divine figures, and lavished with glowing media coverage and gold-adorned portraits hanging in public spaces and private homes nationwide. Sirikit, the mother of Thai King Vajiralongkorn and widow of the nation’s longest-reigning monarch, died late on Friday at the age of 93. Black-and-white tributes to the royal matriarch are being beamed onto towering digital advertizing billboards, on
Tens of thousands of people on Saturday took to the streets of Spain’s eastern city of Valencia to mark the first anniversary of floods that killed 229 people and to denounce the handling of the disaster. Demonstrators, many carrying photos of the victims, called on regional government head Carlos Mazon to resign over what they said was the slow response to one of Europe’s deadliest natural disasters in decades. “People are still really angry,” said Rosa Cerros, a 42-year-old government worker who took part with her husband and two young daughters. “Why weren’t people evacuated? Its incomprehensible,” she said. Mazon’s
POWER ABUSE WORRY: Some people warned that the broad language of the treaty could lead to overreach by authorities and enable the repression of government critics Countries signed their first UN treaty targeting cybercrime in Hanoi yesterday, despite opposition from an unlikely band of tech companies and rights groups warning of expanded state surveillance. The new global legal framework aims to bolster international cooperation to fight digital crimes, from child pornography to transnational cyberscams and money laundering. More than 60 countries signed the declaration, which means it would go into force once ratified by those states. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described the signing as an “important milestone,” and that it was “only the beginning.” “Every day, sophisticated scams destroy families, steal migrants and drain billions of dollars from our economy...
RSS