Silver Spring, Maryland Man Sentenced to 21 Months in Prison for His Role in DMV Driver’s License Bribery Scheme
Defendant Bribed DMV Employee Who in Turn Issued Facially Valid, but Fraudulently Obtained D.C. Driver’s Licenses to Foreign Nationals

Washington, D.C. – A 33-year-old Silver Spring, Maryland man, Salvador Diaz, has been sentenced to 21 months in prison for his role in a bribery scheme in which he paid a DMV employee thousands of dollars in exchange for dozens of facially valid, but fraudulently obtained, District of Columbia driver’s licenses that were issued to foreign nationals between the Fall of 2006 and May 2007, U.S. Attorney Jeffrey A. Taylor, FBI Assistant Director in Charge Joseph Persichini, Jr., and District of Columbia Inspector General Charles J. Willoughby announced today.

Diaz, who is originally from El Salvador, received his sentence yesterday afternoon in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia before the Honorable Richard J. Leon, who also ordered that, following the defendant’s release from prison, the defendant be placed on 24 months of supervised release. On June 20, 2008, Diaz pled guilty to Paying a Bribe to a Public Official.

“Simple, pure greed fueled this defendant’s illegal activities,” said U.S. Attorney Taylor. “Salvador Diaz and his co-conspirators exploited many hard-working immigrants who barely earned enough to get by. They also had no regard for the security of this country as reflected by their willingness to assist individuals, many of whose true identity they did not know, in receiving facially valid driver’s licenses through fraudulent means. Their conduct was reckless and dangerous to the safety and security interests of the United States.”

As Assistant U.S. Attorney Susan B. Menzer explained to the Court during the previous plea proceedings, the District of Columbia permits foreign nationals, who are legally present in the United States and can continue to legally reside in the United States for at least another six months, to obtain driver’s licenses. To apply for a driver’s license, however, a foreign national must complete an application and present proof of his name, date of birth, social security number, and District of Columbia residency. Once a foreign national establishes his eligibility to obtain a driver’s license, he must pass the vision screening test and, depending upon whether he possesses a valid out-of-state or foreign driver’s license, he must take either or both the knowledge and road skills tests. Any District of Columbia driver’s license issued to a foreign national, however, remains valid only as long as that individual is legally present in the United States.

At his June 20, 2008 plea hearing, Salvador Diaz admitted that on October 19, 2005, he solicited DMV employee Patricia Gonzalez, 39, of Takoma Park, Maryland, to renew his District of Columbia driver’s license even though he no longer resided in the District of Columbia. Beginning in the Fall of 2006 through May 2007, he brought other foreign nationals to Gonzalez at the Brentwood branch of the DMV to obtain facially valid driver’s licenses. Most of these individuals were not eligible to obtain such driver’s licenses because they did not reside in the District of Columbia or were not legally present within the U.S. or for as long as Gonzalez entered into the DMV computer system. Further, many of these individuals were unable to read in either English or Spanish and, therefore, were unable to pass the knowledge and road skills tests. Diaz admitted paying Gonzalez between $500 and $800 for dozens of fraudulent licenses she issued.

On May 19, 2008, Patricia Gonzalez pled guilty to Receipt of a Bribe by a Public Official. Gonzalez was sentenced on August 14, 2008, to a term of 18 months in prison and 200 hours of community service.

In addition to Gonzalez and Diaz’s guilty pleas, Gloria Gonzalez-Paz, 35, of Lanham, Maryland, previously pled guilty to payment of a bribe to a public official for bringing foreign nationals to Gonzalez at the Georgetown branch of the DMV to fraudulently obtain driver’s licenses. Gonzalez-Paz was sentenced on August 12, 2008, to a term of 24 months in prison and 250 hours of community service.

Fifteen other individuals, all of whom fraudulently obtained facially valid D.C. driver’s licenses from Gonzalez, have pled guilty to misdemeanor fraud. None of these individuals took the required examinations and only one resided in D.C., but they nevertheless obtained facially valid driver’s licenses. Some of these individuals have received a suspended sentence of 180 days of incarceration and a 12-month period of probation. Others are awaiting sentencing and face a maximum sentence of 180 days in prison and a fine of $1,000.

In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Taylor, FBI Assistant Director in Charge Persichini, and Inspector General Willougby commended the investigatory work of FBI Special Agents Albert Tenuta and Sean Ryan and District of Columbia Office of the Inspector General Special Agent Teddy Clark. They also praised Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ellen Chubin Epstein and Susan B. Menzer, who are prosecuting the cases.

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