The Special Body of the Court of Justice of Rio de Janeiro accepted this Monday, (15), the complaint offered by the Public Ministry and made defendants state deputy Lúcia Helena Pinto de Barros (PSD), better known as deputy Lucinha, and her former parliamentary advisor Ariane Afonso Lima. 
The two are accused of involvement with the militia called “Bonde do Zinho” or “Família Braga”, which operates in neighborhoods in the west zone such as Campo Grande, Paciência, Cosmos, Inhoaíba, Guaratiba and Santa Cruz.
According to the complaint, the defendants interfered politically in favor of the criminals. In one episode, in July 2021, the two provided the group with privileged information related to the visit schedule of the mayor of Rio, Eduardo Paes, to the west zone, allowing the militia members to remove their members from the streets of locations dominated by the criminal organization.
There was also an attempt to interfere with the mayor and other municipal authorities to maintain the so-called “P5 Loophole” in alternative municipal public transport, the militia’s largest source of direct funding. This way, the group could explore the service outside the determined itinerary, increasing revenue from the vans.
Furthermore, the accused received privileged information from the criminal group about the commission of crimes whose investigations were ongoing in order, ultimately, to interfere in their course and determine the investigative line to be followed by the investigators. The complaint also points out that, in November 2021, the deputy provided assistance to members of “Bonde do Zinho” arrested in the act, to release them from prison.
Between June 2021 and March 2022, the accused held frequent meetings with the main leaders of the militia group, including Zinho, on average twice a month, to establish the lines of interference that would be exercised with Alerj. Lucinha appointed as advisors in her office, between 2021 and 2023, members and relatives of members of the criminal organization.
Prison
At the end of 2023, a Federal Police operation discovered Congresswoman Lucinha’s associations with the militia in the west zone of Rio, linked to the Braga family. One court order removed her from officehowever, she was reinstated to her position in the Rio Legislative Assembly (Alerj) by decision of the other state deputies.
The accused will respond under article 288-A of the Penal Code, in accordance with Law 12,850/12, which deals with the crime of establishing a private militia and whose penalty can vary from 5 to 10 years in prison and a fine, in addition to the loss of public service.
