A serial criminal known for violently robbing banks has been convicted by a federal jury in Boston for similarly vicious crimes, this time targeting not financial institutions, but the supposed sanctuaries of relaxation and serenity—spas. Alfeu Barbosa, a 26-year-old resident of Burlington, Mass., along with two accomplices, stands guilty of executing a slew of armed robberies in which the assailants beat, dragged, and mercilessly duct-taped their victims, according to a statement obtained by The Department of Justice.
The convicted felon Barbosa, who wore a GPS-monitoring anklet during his latest crime spree, had prior convictions for offenses like armed robbery and assault. Despite receiving a suspended sentence before, he committed new crimes, including spa robberies described by Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levy as inflicting lifelong trauma on multiple victims for minimal gain, according to a report by The Department of Justice.
Details of the terror Barbosa and his cohorts inflicted include a chilling episode on June 12, 2022, when an employee at the Balance Reflexology Spa was ambushed under the pretense of a normal business transaction, then bound, threatened, and assaulted. Reminiscent of movie scenes where calm plunges into chaos as the door unlocks to admit masked men with guns, the employees at these local businesses found themselves at the mercy of these perpetrators—not merely thieves but merchants of fear. The ensuing raids saw them fleeing with cash and valuables—a sum that hardly equates to the emotional and physical scars left on the victims. Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Boston Division, Jodi Cohen, highlighted the importance of the jury's verdict in bringing closure and safety in her statement following the verdict.
Barbosa's sentencing is set for July 17, sealing at least one fate in a trio of terror; co-defendant Jonas Nunez pleaded guilty in January and awaits sentencing on April 18, while Li Wen Tang is yet to stand trial and maintains his presumption of innocence according to The Department of Justice. Sentences for crimes as heinous as these could stretch up to 20 years of imprisonment, illustrating the severity with which the judicial system can respond to such brazen disregard for law and human dignity. The FBI, state police, and various local departments cooperated in piecing together the string of crimes leading to the convictions, with the Department of Justice crediting their cooperation in the successful bid to end this particular wave of violence.
