Ohio BMV employee pleads guilty in fake ID case

Posted by Associated Press September 22, 2008 15:58PM

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- An employee of the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to make and distribute fraudulent identification cards to illegal aliens in Virginia.

Michelle Eckerman of Canal Winchester, Ohio, pleaded guilty Monday in U.S. District Court to one count of conspiracy. She faces five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Prosecutors say she processed more than 200 applications for ID cards at her job in a Columbus BMV office, many of them issued to illegal immigrants seeking work in Virginia.

Federal prosecutors say other defendants sold fraudulently obtained documents to the illegal aliens and made arrangements for their travel to Ohio to obtain the illegal state IDs.

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