Gulfport resident indicted in fake ID case
Uzbek national was under watch
By ROBIN FITZGERALD
rfitzgerald@sunherald.com

GULFPORT --An Uzbek national living in Gulfport was under surveillance before he was indicted in an alleged conspiracy to sell driver's licenses to illegal immigrants, court records show.

The federal indictment alleges that Davron Gayupov, 29, met in Gulfport with potential buyers and traveled with them to Tupelo, where an employee of the Department of Motor Vehicles used false information to provide licenses indicating the undocumented immigrants are legal residents of Mississippi. Co-defendants are two Mexican nationals, one identified as a Mobile shipyard worker accused of recruiting immigrants to buy licenses for use applying for jobs at shipyards in Mobile.

Court documents don't list Gayupov's address but identify him as a Gulfport resident employed by a Mobile construction company. Gayupov was taken before U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert H. Walker in Gulfport on July 12. Walker transferred his case to the Southern District of Alabama, where the U.S. Attorney's Office will prosecute the federal criminal charges.

In a related development Wednesday, the Mississippi Department of Public Safety announced two arrests involving driver services employee Jamie B. Hayes, 40, of Grenada, and Shelia Bell Rena Alsanabani, 32, of Clarksdale. Both are accused on state charges involving false statements.

Lt. Col. David Shaw, director of the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, said MBI and the state Highway Patrol's Driver Services Bureau are investigating along with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the FBI. Shaw said Hayes was placed on administrative leave but Alsanabani is not a state employee.

Federal agents on Monday identified a state driver license examiner in Tupelo as the part of the alleged conspiracy to "sell" a Mississippi driver's license for about $2,000 per license. State law prohibits illegal immigrants from having a driver's license.

According to the indictment, Melissa Marizette Green, 37, issued hundreds of driver's licenses in Tupelo during a nine-month period from Sept. 1, 2006, through June 22. The indictment doesn't say how many involve immigrants, but it claims the immigrants were recruited by Marcos Martinez, 40, of Mobile.

Green's husband, Alfred Joseph Green, 40, allegedly coordinated the purchases with his wife and Gayupov, negotiated the price and served as a lookout. Martinez and Gayupov are accused of getting their own licenses along with Baldemar Esquivel, 37, of Troy, Ala. Esquivel also is accused of recruiting and driving a female to Tupelo for a license.

The maximum federal penalty for conspiring to falsely produce identification documents is 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Gulfport Police Chief Alan Weatherford said illegal driver's licenses can only complicate police work.

"Not knowing much about the case, I can say our agency has concerns," Weatherford said.

His agency was criticized last month after a driver without a license was released on a misdemeanor DUI charge and a week later allegedly fled from a fatal crash that killed a couple traveling by motorcycle on U.S. 49. Police said they had no way of knowing the driver was an illegal immigrant until he admitted it after the second arrest.

http://www.sunherald.com/278/story/101219.html