COVERAGE RIGHT NOW AT WTAE.COM. WE HAVE A BIG UPDATE IN THE CASE WE’VE BEEN FOLLOWING IN ALLEGHENY COUNTY. SEWICKLEY MAN NOW REUNITED WITH HIS FAMILY AFTER BEING RELEASED FROM ICE CUSTODY TODAY, ACCORDING TO THE FAMILY’S LAWYER, BRUNO GUEDES, DA SILVA WAS RELEASED FROM FEDERAL CUSTODY THIS AFTERNOON FOLLOWING A LENGTHY BATTLE TO BRING HIM HOME. AUTHORITIES SAY HE LIED ABOUT HIS IMMIGRATION STATUS ON HIS APPLICATION TO BUY A GUN IN JULY OF 2024. WELL, LAST WEEK, THOSE CRIMINAL CHARGES WERE DROPPED, AND YESTERDAY A JUDGE GRANTED BOND FOR GUEDES DA SILVA ON IMMIGRATION CHARGES. HE DOES STILL FACE. WELL, TONIGHT, THOUGH, WE’RE TOLD THAT
Pennsylvania father released from ICE custody reunites with daughter in hospital
Updated: 4:30 PM CDT Apr 15, 2026
A Pennsylvania man has reunited with his daughter after being released from ICE custody Tuesday. Photos sent to sister station WTAE show Bruno Guedes da Silva reunited with his young daughter Maria, who is currently battling cancer.This is Maria’s second fight against Hodgkin’s lymphoma after she was first diagnosed in the spring of 2024. According to ICE agents, da Silva was wanted on a felony warrant charge of sale or transfer of firearms and unsworn falsification to authorities.”In this particular case, the question is, ‘Are you an illegal alien?’ And by everything my client was told, he was not an illegal alien,” said Thomas N. Farrell, da Silva’s criminal defense lawyer.Farrell says that’s the question authorities alleged da Silva lied about on his application to buy a gun in July 2024.”He was never told why he couldn’t purchase a gun. They just said, ‘No, you can’t purchase a gun,’ and he thought that was the end of it,” Farrell said.Yet for two years, da Silva had a warrant for his arrest on the charges of lying, something he was not aware of. Farrell said his client was under the impression that he was here legally.”Everything that the federal government and the state government told him was that he was allowed to be in this country,” Farrell said.Da Silva fled to the United States in 2022 from Brazil, after his family was targeted and shot at because da Silva was a correctional officer.”As a result, he fled to the United States, and when he got there, he asked for asylum,” Farrell said.He was granted a work visa, Social Security card and driver’s license when he entered the U.S.Charges against him were dropped earlier this month.
A Pennsylvania man has reunited with his daughter after being released from ICE custody Tuesday.
Photos sent to sister station WTAE show Bruno Guedes da Silva reunited with his young daughter Maria, who is currently battling cancer.
This is Maria’s second fight against Hodgkin’s lymphoma after she was first diagnosed in the spring of 2024.
According to ICE agents, da Silva was wanted on a felony warrant charge of sale or transfer of firearms and unsworn falsification to authorities.
“In this particular case, the question is, ‘Are you an illegal alien?’ And by everything my client was told, he was not an illegal alien,” said Thomas N. Farrell, da Silva’s criminal defense lawyer.
Farrell says that’s the question authorities alleged da Silva lied about on his application to buy a gun in July 2024.
“He was never told why he couldn’t purchase a gun. They just said, ‘No, you can’t purchase a gun,’ and he thought that was the end of it,” Farrell said.
Yet for two years, da Silva had a warrant for his arrest on the charges of lying, something he was not aware of. Farrell said his client was under the impression that he was here legally.
“Everything that the federal government and the state government told him was that he was allowed to be in this country,” Farrell said.
Da Silva fled to the United States in 2022 from Brazil, after his family was targeted and shot at because da Silva was a correctional officer.
“As a result, he fled to the United States, and when he got there, he asked for asylum,” Farrell said.
He was granted a work visa, Social Security card and driver’s license when he entered the U.S.
Charges against him were dropped earlier this month.