Thread: 8, including PennDOT official, accused of running document

http://www.nynewsday.com/news/local/wir ... 8277.story

8, including PennDOT official, accused of running document ring

By JEFFREY GOLD
Associated Press Writer

September 27, 2005, 3:29 PM EDT

NEWARK, N.J. -- Federal agents say they have cracked a ring that supplied thousands of Pennsylvania drivers' licenses to illegal aliens and others who wanted false identification.

The arrests Tuesday of eight people, including a former Philadelphia police officer who now works at the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, followed a yearlong investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other agencies.

The PennDOT official, Ronald Henry, was paid to falsify records so it would appear that those getting the licenses had taken the required written and road tests, according to the criminal complaint.

Henry, 62, of Philadelphia, works as a driver's license examiner at the license center in Bensalem, Pa., administering the tests and issuing licenses, ICE said.

"The ultimate goal is to take back these licenses," said Kyle Hutchins, ICE special agent in charge of the Newark office. Many of the improper recipients got the licenses to avoid deportation, he said.

"This organization was helping individuals create new identities and in today's world that is a serious threat to our national security," Hutchins said.

ICE will be working with the Pennsylvania attorney general's office to determine who received the fraud licenses, Hutchins said.

PennDOT spokesman Richard Kirkpatrick said Henry will be suspended without pay and the agency will conduct its own investigation.

"We don't tolerate any abuse of the driver's license system," Kirkpatrick said.

Henry joined PennDOT April 28, 2001, and made $33,069 a year, he said.

The ring charged $2,000 to $5,000, depending on the type of license, Hutchins said. Many of the licenses were for commercial driver's licenses, which allows the recipient to operate a truck or bus. The recipients pose a threat on the highways because most have no training for such vehicles, he said.

ICE alleged the ring's leader was Altagracia "Grace" Rosario, 45, who was arrested in Robbinsville and accused of providing documents that helped people get the licenses.

Rosario gave the aliens fraudulent identity documents, including non-immigrant visas and altered passports and sent them to Henry at the license center, where they applied for driver's licenses, officials said.

Hutchins credited a small law enforcement agency, the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor, with providing the lead that exposed the ring after investigating a person who had a Pennsylvania driver's license. The commission has offices in New York and New Jersey.

Investigators allege the organization was providing some illegal aliens with Puerto Rican birth certificates and Social Security cards obtained from the original owners, which allowed them to pose as United States citizens, ICE said.

ICE said it tapped the home phones of Henry and Rosario during the investigation. Others charged include Rosario's two daughters. All were charged with conspiracy to commit identity fraud, which carries up to five years in prison.

Just a little add on to this aritcle from the ICE web site.

Investigators also found that Rosario was helping individuals with final orders of removal change their identity in order to avoid deportation from the United States. Also arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit identify fraud are:

Nancy Elgende, 27, Rosario's daughter and a United States Citizen living in Trenton, NJ
Lizette Mahsel, 24 also Rosario's daughter and a United States Citizen living in Robbinsville, NJ
Christopher Nix, 25, a United States Citizen who has addresses in Robbinsville and East Windsor, NJ and Philadelphia, PA
Laura Moraga, 26 an illegal alien living in South Bound Brook, NJ and Bath, PA
Carlos Castro Matamoros, 42, an illegal alien with addresses in Bogota, NJ and Glenolden, PA
Jose Rios, 39, a United States Citizen living in Trenton, NJ
Hutchins thanked the Waterfront Commission for their excellent work on the case and also the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office for support during the investigation.

The defendants are scheduled for an initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Patty Shwartz in the old courthouse and Post Office building in Newark this afternoon.

Personal opinion, this people should be charged with Treason, Terrorist acts. I just wonder how many others have they done this for. A great place to put these people would be Gitmo.