BOSTON, June 5, 2013—A Brighton woman admitted yesterday to stealing thousands of dollars from illegal immigrants in return for promises of driver’s licenses and legal assistance she never provided, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

ADRIANA FERREIRA (D.O.B. 6/28/64) pleaded guilty to seven counts of accepting a gratuity as a public employee, five counts of larceny over $250 by false pretense, and four counts of attempted larceny. 

Assistant District Attorney Nicholas Walsh, chief of the DA’s Special Prosecutions Unit, recommended a state prison sentence of five to seven years followed by three years of probation. Suffolk Superior Court Judge Janet Sanders sentenced Ferreira to three years in state prison and eight years of probation, during which time she must have no contact with her victims, receive drug evaluation and treatment, and submit to random drug screens.

Ferreira must also pay $8,780 in restitution – including $2,000 to Suffolk prosecutors and $800 to the Department of Homeland Security, who supplied those amounts to cooperating witnesses for use in controlled pay-offs.

“We’ll be notifying the State Retirement Board of this defendant’s convictions,” Conley said. “There is no reason she should receive a state pension after using her position of trust and authority to violate the law and exploit these victims. This is a case of greed, pure and simple.”

Had the case proceeded to trial, Walsh would have presented evidence and testimony to prove that Ferreira used her position as a clerk for the Registry of Motor Vehicles and her previous experience as an employee of the Brighton District Court clerk’s office to build a reputation as a notario, a Spanish-language term for certain trained legal advisors.  Ferreira, however, is neither a lawyer nor a notary public.

The evidence would have shown that Ferreira promised five victims she could help them obtain Massachusetts driver’s licenses or make immigration cases disappear in return for payments ranging from $500 to $1,100 between July 2009 and her arrest in November 2012. When her victims confronted her about not receiving the promised services, Ferreira threatened to have them deported, in one case even reporting the victim to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“She might have thought no one would listen to these victims,” Conley said. “She might have thought no one would care what they said. She was wrong. No matter who you are, no matter where you’re from, if someone has hurt you or stolen from you, we’re here to help.”

The charges against Ferreira resulted from investigations conducted independently after victims contacted the Massachusetts State Police and Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations. Neither agency developed any evidence that Ferreira actually provided fraudulent documents or assistance to any person.

Ferreira was represented by Craig Collins.

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All defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.