City Woman Admits She Altered Testimony

A 27-year-old city woman Tuesday admitted she made false statements in court, the US Attorney’s Office said.

On Sept. 23, 2009, while appearing as a witness under oath before the federal grand jury, Debora Medeiros Da Silva testified that she witnessed Peter Ventricelli, the target of a grand jury investigation, retrieve a bag of guns from her bedroom closet, and that he later gave the bag of guns to his brother, Mark Ventricelli. Da Silva subsequently appeared as a witness at the brothers’ trial, where she denied ever seeing any guns in a bag.

The federal charge of knowingly making false declarations before a grand jury or court carries a maximum potential penalty of five years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000.

Sentencing is scheduled for May 16.