Woman in DMV bribe case wants lower bail

By JAMES A. KIMBLE
Union Leader Correspondent
Saturday, Oct. 23, 2010

BRENTWOOD – A Lawrence, Mass., woman was able to give drug dealers and illegal aliens new identities through a long-time connection she had at the New Hampshire Department of Motor Vehicles, a woman who issued bogus licenses for cash payoffs, according to court documents.

Angie Paola Patrone, 29, who is charged with four counts of conspiracy to bribe a public official, wants to be free on bail after her arrest June 14.

New details about her case came to light yesterday as lawyers for Patrone met behind closed doors with a judge and state prosecutors at Rockingham County Superior Court to argue about Patrone's bail.

Judge Kenneth McHugh is now weighing whether to lower the bail from $300,000 cash.

Patrone is among at least eight people charged in connection with an alleged bribery scheme, which led to the arrest of a Department of Motor Vehicles employee, a New Hampshire State Police trooper and several others.

Patrone was described as a "recruiter and shepherd" for the illegal license business run by Aldaberto Medina, 39, of Manchester and DMV employee Donna Rockholt, 47, also of Manchester.

"(She) was the root from which this bribery conspiracy grew," Assistant Attorney General Michael Lewis wrote in court papers about Patrone.

She would receive a $500 cut out of a $2,500 payment for a new license, according to the documents.

People who essentially wanted a new identity would pay Patrone to be put in touch with Medina -- the alleged middleman of the operation. Medina would then contact Rockholt, who would allegedly circumvent the DMV's verification process used to confirm the identity of a license applicant.

Lewis wrote that the vast majority of people who came to Patrone for a new license trafficked illegal drugs.

No indictments have been handed up yet by a grand jury, and affidavits and search warrants in the case remain sealed.

Lewis argued in court papers that Patrone should remain incarcerated because she remained a flight risk.

Details about the state police investigation have trickled out through court papers filed by prosecutors, who have been arguing against freeing several of the defendants on lower bail.

The investigation also led to the discovery that Medina had allegedly bribed a state trooper, Fred Stamatatos, 40, of Pelham. Stamatatos allegedly gave salvaged inspection stickers to Medina without the required inspection. Stamatatos is facing a felony bribery charge and several misdemeanors.

He is free on bail.

Patrone was initially facing federal charges in connection with the case, but those charges have been dismissed. She faces the four felony bribery charges in Rockingham County Superior Court.

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