Thread: Gwinnett examiner charged in driver license scheme

Gwinnett examiner charged in driver license scheme

By GEORGE CHIDI
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/ ... _0919.html
Published on: 09/19/07

Four people face criminal charges in a bribery scheme to grant driver's licenses to illegal immigrants, authorities said Tuesday.

Kenneth Sherman, a former driver services examiner in Norcross, took thousands of dollars in exchange for agreeing to issue driver's licenses from an office on Beaver Ruin Road, said Lance Taylor, deputy director of investigative services for the Georgia Department of Driver Services.

Investigators charged Sherman with violation of an oath by a public officer and conspiracy to commit a crime for issuing "genuine" licenses under the table to people who weren't entitled to one. He is awaiting trial.

Three others face charges that they conspired to bribe Sherman.

Authorities obtained arrest warrants charging Licel Torres, 32, of Alpharetta, and Jose Nelson Espinoza, 46, of Marietta, with conspiracy to commit bribery and conspiracy to commit computer theft. It was unclear Tuesday whether authorities had taken Torres and Espinoza into custody.

Espinoza is also accused of conspiracy to commit computer forgery. In addition, he has an outstanding deportation order, according to an arrest warrant.

The third person, Gladis Quash, 44, of Lawrenceville, was arrested on computer forgery and bribery charges.

The case began with a tip to immigration officers, Taylor said.

A warrant for Torres' arrest says he conspired with Quash and Sherman on March 1 to get a license for $1,300 to someone who is ineligible to receive one. A warrant for Espinoza says he directed a confidential informant to meet with Sherman on June 25 to buy a valid license for $2,500.

Taylor couldn't say how many licenses Sherman might have issued illegally, or to whom they might have been issued.

"Through the investigation, we make as many efforts as possible to identify those people," Taylor said.

"One is too many. But as a percentage of the whole, we're dealing with a small percentage."

The mere presence of people in the country illegally will continue to breed this sort of criminal enterprise.

I recently got my DL from there after moving to GA from FLA. That place was absolutely LOADED with latin types, even during a time that wasn't lunch time.