South Carolina man sentenced for trafficking semiautomatic guns to Worcester, Marlborough
A South Carolina man in the country illegally was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison April 14 after admitting to illegally shipping firearms to Worcester and Marlborough.
Matheus Peroba, 21, received the sentence in U.S. District Court in Worcester, court records show. He will be subject to deportation proceedings after his sentence, U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Leah B. Foley noted in a news release.
Federal agents in January 2024 intercepted two semiautomatic pistols they said Peroba had mailed to Grafton Street, writing in recently filed court documents that he was also seen gunsmithing an AK-47-style firearm in a video he sent to the pistols' intended recipient.
Peroba, who agents said also sent firearms through the mail destined for Marlborough, pleaded guilty in December to one count of trafficking in firearms and one count of unlawful shipment of a firearm through the U.S. mail.
Federal prosecutors wrote in Peroba's sentencing memorandum that he was discovered after Milford police searched a phone that belonged to a person they had arrested for an armed robbery at a 'small grocery store' in town.
The person, who they said was also in the country illegally, had spoken to Peroba about illegally purchasing firearms, they said.
Authorities said the firearms Peroba shipped to Grafton Street were intended for that person, who they referred to in court documents as 'Individual 1.'
They said text exchanges between the two showed that Peroba was aware the person was planning to using firearms acquired from Peroba in crimes.
Authorities said that while discussing the shipment of firearms destined for Grafton Street, Peroba sent the person a message 'explaining that if Individual 1 does anything with the gun … to throw away the top because that is the part of the gun connected to Peroba's name.'
In his sentencing memorandum, Peroba's lawyer, Jane Peachy, said Peroba was a young man who'd had a hard life and no prior record, but made poor decisions.
Peachy said Peroba's mother left him when he was 3, and he grew up in poverty in Brazil raised by his father and grandmother.
'Although they did their best to raise them in a loving family, Matheus was exposed to violence, fights, and even murder in his community during his childhood,' Peachy wrote, adding he and his father came to the United States illegally in search of a better life.
Peachy said Peroba, between language barriers and the COVID-19 pandemic, struggled in Brockton High School before dropping out.
He had a child with his girlfriend, struggled to make money installing cabinets, and moved to South Carolina to be with his father for a cheaper cost of living, she said.
"When he moved to South Carolina, where it was undoubtedly easier to obtain firearms than in Massachusetts, he purchased firearms that he sold to some of these people in Massachusetts for a profit,' Peachy wrote.
Peachy said Peroba realizes now the gravity of his crime, and said he accepted full responsibility by telling police what he did and pleading guilty.
She noted his father has already been deported, and that he will be deported after his sentence. She said he and his girlfriend plan to 'move to Brazil so they can be together and abandon any dream of raising their American-born daughter in this country.'
Peachy, noting that Peroba will not receive credit for considerable time spent in ICE custody prior to his plea and arguing his youth contributed to his crime, requested a 24-month sentence, records show.
U.S. District Court Judge Margaret R. Guzman settled on a 30-month sentence.
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Brazilian national Matheus Peroba sentenced for trafficking firearms
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