Thread: Two convicted of providing drivers license's to illegals

[Mods - please delete if a dupe.]

5/21/2008

From SFgate:

Henry K. Lee

A former employee of the state Department of Motor Vehicles in Santa Rosa and a Pittsburg man have been convicted of providing driver's licenses and identification cards to illegal immigrants, authorities said.

Aida Pulido, 48, who worked at the DMV office on Corby Avenue, and Teofilo Arechiga Palomera, 61, were each convicted by a Sonoma County Superior Court jury of four counts of conspiracy and trying to help others fraudulently obtain DMV documents.

Pulido and Palomera face up to three years in prison when they are sentenced July 14 by Judge Rene Chouteau.

"Once again, a Sonoma County jury has said we will not tolerate the victimization of undocumented persons. We will continue to prosecute those who target vulnerable members of the community for crime," District Attorney Stephan Passalacqua said in a statement.

Prosecutors said Palomera would find people who were not legal U.S. residents and promise them a valid driver's license or identification card in exchange for $1,500 to $2,500 in cash.

Those who wanted licenses were told to go directly to window 18 at the Santa Rosa DMV office, where the Spanish-speaking Pulido worked, authorities said.

Four people testified that when they went to Pulido's window, she entered a code in the computer system to falsely show that they had shown her a U.S. birth certificate. Authorities did not say whether Pulido accepted money as part of the scheme.

The case bears similarities to a scheme in which five workers at the DMV office on Claremont Avenue in Oakland were convicted of accepting money to provide licenses to illegal immigrants. A number of people who served as "brokers" were also convicted. More than 200 fraudulent driver's licenses and state identification cards were issued at the Claremont Avenue office from 2003 to 2005.

E-mail Henry K. Lee at hlee@sfchronicle.com.


Just love the line "we will not tolerate the victimization of undocumented persons."



PhredE Edit:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... .DTL&tsp=1

mrrabbit: I think you're ok as far as the dupe situation goes, but the problem is we need the source link. Without one, I'll have to remove your post.

Please do edit back in the link to the source as soon as you can - Thanks.

Originally Posted by PhredE

mrrabbit: I think you're ok as far as the dupe situation goes, but the problem is we need the source link. Without one, I'll have to remove your post.

Please do edit back in the link to the source as soon as you can - Thanks.

Well hit me with a hammer...I had it copied but forgot to paste...let's see if it's still in the clipboard...3...2...1...

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... 10Q96A.DTL

...yep....DOH!

(Did say SFgate anyway...gotta hand me that!)

=

Couldn't help but notice in the comments section that once again folks coming out of the workworks noting the "illegal immigration angle" and the DAs twisting of words and lack of concern for law-adiding Americans and their safety.

Really nice have reinforced the knowledge that I'm not alone here in the Bay Area...

=

"Once again, a Sonoma County jury has said we will not tolerate the victimization of undocumented persons. We will continue to prosecute those who target vulnerable members of the community for crime," District Attorney Stephan Passalacqua said in a statement

Once again illegal immigrants are the victims?

This makes me so mad, they need to get it straight the victims are us, the legal citizens, not the "undocumented persons".

No one held a gun to their head and forced them to break our laws by sneaking into our country, no one forced them to pay for a fraudlent Drivers License.

No wonder they are making more and more demands. We keep sending them mixed signals.

Originally Posted by MontereySherry

"Once again, a Sonoma County jury has said we will not tolerate the victimization of undocumented persons. We will continue to prosecute those who target vulnerable members of the community for crime," District Attorney Stephan Passalacqua said in a statement

Once again illegal immigrants are the victims?

This makes me so mad, they need to get it straight the victims are us, the legal citizens, not the "undocumented persons".

No one held a gun to their head and forced them to break our laws by sneaking into our country, no one forced them to pay for a fraudlent Drivers License.

No wonder they are making more and more demands. We keep sending them mixed signals.

Yeah...put yourself in the shoes of one of these illegals...

"Americans must be stupid!!!"

Our politicians and bureacratics say and do things that by association make us ALL appear to be stupid.

Hence the mixed signals as you pointed out...

Originally Posted by mrrabbit

Couldn't help but notice in the comments section that once again folks coming out of the workworks noting the "illegal immigration angle" and the DAs twisting of words and lack of concern for law-adiding Americans and their safety.

Really nice have reinforced the knowledge that I'm not alone here in the Bay Area...

=

Ya this is in the largest city south of us. Its liberal country but people are really getting angry. I looked at the comments too. I wished I could find these people. I tried to register but everything I tried wouldn't work.

"Once again, a Sonoma County jury has said we will not tolerate the victimization of undocumented persons. We will continue to prosecute those who target vulnerable members of the community for crime," District Attorney Stephan Passalacqua said in a statement.


This not what this jury said. If you read the comments, people are miffed for the illegal alien reason.

A former employee of the state Department of Motor Vehicles in Santa Rosa and a Pittsburg man have been convicted of providing driver's licenses and identification cards to illegal immigrants, authorities said.

The Real ID would not prevent illegals from getting DL'S or ID's with people like this working. The way the ecconomy is right now, people may just be desperate enough to do things like this.

"Once again, a Sonoma County jury has said we will not tolerate the victimization of undocumented persons. We will continue to prosecute those who target vulnerable members of the community for crime," District Attorney Stephan Passalacqua said in a statement.

No mention of the victimization of Americans because of this.