Feds: Couple's Fake Docs Let 1,000 Workers Into US

WESH.COM.

Brazilian Couple Sentenced In Federal Court

POSTED: 4:53 pm EDT October 14, 2010
UPDATED: 6:16 pm EDT October 14, 2010

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ORLANDO, Fla. -- A Central Florida couple is accused of selling fake visas that allowed more than 1,000 illegal immigrants into the United States.Federal authorities called the bust the largest work visa fraud ring in the country. Agents said the husband and wife own a real business, but the documents they were issuing were fake.Wilson Barbugli, 63, was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison. His wife, Valeria Barbugli, 57, received a sentence of two years.Investigators said the two falsified visas, permits and other documents in order to entice more than 1,000 Brazilian workers into the United States.Court documents showed the couple supplied housekeepers to 160 hotels from Florida to Arkansas, including The Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort, the Waldorf Astoria and the Gaylord Palms in Central Florida.Authorities said Valeria’s sister fled to Brazil, and one of the couple’s sons, Eduardo, is scheduled to be sentenced in December.“I think they are scapegoats, and the government decided to get someone,” said William Singleton, a family friend.The Barbuglis are citizens of Brazil and may be deported after they serve their sentences, the Department of Justice said.The court said they must pay back $55 million in illegal proceeds that were generated over the last two years as part of their sentence.

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