Seven Months Later, Hyannis Man Still Awaits His Day In Court

ORLEANS – Outside of Orleans District Court on Dec. 16, a small group of protesters gathered holding signs.  “Liberty and Justice for All,” read one. “Justice For Thiago,” read another.

But Thiago Bastos never appeared. The 27-year-old Hyannis man, who was arrested in May on charges of operating under the influence of alcohol,  failure to stop for police, negligent operation of a motor vehicle and a marked lanes violation, has been in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement since May, despite court orders that he appear in district court to face the charges.

Bastos’ Dec. 16 hearing, in which his attorney, Thomas Rugo, argued for the charges against his client be dismissed, was the fifth consecutive date going back to June in which Bastos failed to appear in court. He is being held in an ICE detention facility in Berlin, N.H.

“I just wonder on what grounds they can argue that they can just dismiss a court order,” said Tracy Johnson, who was among the protesters outside of the court last week. “It doesn’t seem like the America I want to be in.”

Bastos was arraigned on May 12, two days after his arrest. Following his arraignment, he was taken into ICE custody, according to Rugo’s motion to dismiss, which was filed in Orleans District Court on Oct. 10. He has been in the Berlin facility since May 29, according to court documents.

Bastos is a native of Brazil, according to court records. Records obtained by The Chronicle do not detail Bastos’ immigration status, but he has an alien ID number on file with ICE. Reached by phone Monday, Rugo said “he believes” that Bastos has lived in the U.S. for about 14 years.

“It happens over and over again across the country,” said Heidi Schmidt of Provincetown, who was among those protesting outside of the court last week. “And then they detain them for months without letting them have their hearing.”

Rugo argues in his motion that ICE’s inability to present Bastos to defend the charges against him violates his “rights to a speedy trial and due process rights” under the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments of the Constitution, articles 11 and 12 of the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights and the Massachusetts Rules of Criminal Procedure.

“The Commonwealth must take necessary steps to bring the defendant to court if they wish to proceed with this case against the defendant, or this matter must be dismissed,” the motion reads.

Assistant District Attorney Shaunna Souve of the Cape and Islands District Attorney’s Office said Dec. 16 that Bastos’ inability to appear in court is the fault of the federal government, not the district attorney’s office. She said her office has taken “numerous avenues” to reach ICE officials to get Bastos to appear in court, including by phone and email. 

“The defendant has failed to show that the Commonwealth has had any role in having (Bastos) detained,” she said.

Rugo argued in his motion that Bastos “asserted his right to a speedy trial” by setting up pretrial hearings in June and August. In anticipation of the Aug. 26 hearing, the prosecution made a request that Bastos appear virtually via Zoom, “which was unsuccessful,” according to the motion.

During last week’s hearing, Rugo pointed to a case out of Plymouth District Court from February 2024 that he said supports the motion for dismissal. In that case, Commonwealth v. Edson Rosa, the court found that the defendant’s rights under the Sixth Amendment and Article 12 were violated by his deportation.

“Both federal and Massachusetts courts have concluded that dismissal is the only appropriate remedy for instances where immigration detention and removal impair a defendant’s ability to participate in the criminal proceedings against them,” the motion reads. 

But Cape and Islands District Attorney Rob Galibois said in a phone interview following last week’s hearing that his office intends to follow through with the charges against Bastos.

“We’re in charge of enforcing our public safety around here, and we have a right to bring a case forward,” he said. “His inability to appear before the court is through no fault of our own.”

Bastos’ mother, Ionara Pfleger of Brewster, was in attendance at her son’s hearing last week. She has had custody of two of her grandchildren, ages 5 and 6, since her son’s detainment by ICE. His third child, who is 3, is in their mother’s custody.

“He’s a very family [oriented] guy,” Pfleger said of her son.

Pfleger said she has been in contact with Bastos, who she said is “hanging in there” while in custody in Berlin. 

“It’s very difficult for us as a family,” she said following last week’s hearing. “I was hoping today the case would be dismissed.”

Among those who turned out in support of Bastos and his family last week was Wayne Bergeron of Dennis, a member of the Cape Cod Coalition For Safe Communities. Bergeron brought a handmade sign into the courthouse and sat in on the hearing.

“It’s a disregard of the United States Constitution and Bill of Rights, and we let it happen to one person and it happens to many people,” he said of Bastos’ detention. “So we’re here to support him, the family.”

Karen Boujoukos, a member of the Nauset Interfaith Alliance, said as a mother of two adult sons, she came out last week in support of Bastos’ family. But she also said she was protesting “to support democracy in America.”

“Some of these signs that say ‘Taking people in without due process is kidnapping’...I believe that. Our country has always been better than that,” she said.

Judge Robert Welsh agreed to take the motion to dismiss under advisement and continued the hearing to Jan. 22.

“To be fair, you want to get going on this OUI case, but you really can’t because of the posture of the federal government,” Welsh told Rugo. “So what’s good for the goose is good for the gander, I suppose.”

As for Pfleger, she continues to hold on to hope that her son will be brought back to the Cape. 

“I’m hoping for the best,” she said. “I’m wishing he was here to defend himself, but we’re going to wait and see.”

Staff at the ICE facility in Berlin did not respond to a request for comment as of The Chronicle’s deadline.