June 30, 2016 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — Indicted fishing magnate Carlos Rafael has been granted a later curfew to work longer hours this summer, according to court documents.
“With the arrival of summer, and more activities on the waterfront, Mr. Rafael is needed on the docks to tend to various issues regarding his fishing vessels,” stated a request filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court. “With daylight extending to past 8:30 p.m. throughout the summer months, the present conditions of release prevent Mr. Rafael from working until sundown as is his usual practice.”
Magistrate Judge David H. Hennessey, who set Rafael’s bond conditions in March, granted the request Wednesday. The change enables Rafael to return to his North Dartmouth home by 8:30 p.m. nightly, rather than the initial, 7 p.m. curfew.
Rafael, 64, remains released on bond totaling $2 million. Bond conditions require him to wear electronic monitoring equipment.
He is scheduled for a January 2017 trial on 27 counts of federal charges including conspiracy, false entries and bulk cash smuggling. Also facing trial then is alleged smuggling accomplice Antonio M. Freitas, a 46-year-old Taunton resident and Bristol County Sheriff’s Office deputy, suspended without pay. Freitas faces two federal counts, one for bulk cash smuggling and one for international structuring.