December 14th, 2016 — Federal authorities prosecuting New Bedford fishing magnate Carlos Rafael released a small trove of documents this week that made at least one thing pretty obvious: It didn’t take long for accused co-conspirator Antonio Freitas to drop Rafael into the bag once the law showed up.
The documents were attached to the government’s response to separate-but-similar motions by Rafael and Freitas to be tried individually.
They included partial transcripts from recorded conversations between Rafael and the undercover agents in which Rafael appears to talk about his family joining him in the alleged cash smuggling.
U.S. District Court Judge William Young on Monday granted the motions to sever the trials of the two defendants, with Rafael scheduled to go first on Feb. 6 in U.S. District Court in Boston.
Freitas, a Bristol County sheriff’s deputy, is set to be tried following the completion of Rafael’s trial.
Prosecutors have charged Rafael with one count of conspiracy and 25 counts of making false statements to fishing regulators about the species of groundfish he landed in New Bedford and fish he was selling off the books.
They’ve also charged Rafael and Freitas with one count each of bulk cash smuggling.
“The cash smuggling is where the co-defendant, Antonio Freitas, comes in,” the government wrote in its response to the motions.