http://www.accessnorthga.com/news/ap_ne ... p?ID=71368

Man admits to shuttling immigrants from Ga. to get licenses

The Associated Press - KNOXVILLE, Tenn.

Claudio Galvan pleaded guilty to leading a ring that shuttled illegal immigrants from the Atlanta area to Tennessee to get driver's certificates using fake documents.

Galvan, an illegal immigrant himself who has been deported at least once, confessed Tuesday in a federal plea agreement to arranging trips for "over 29 but less than 99 illegal aliens to Tennessee" from June to December last year.

According to court records, Galvan charged $700 each to bring them to a testing center in Maryville to get a driver's certificate and provided them with fake documents to show Tennessee residency.

It was the second ring busted by the FBI in a year using East Tennessee testing centers to get licenses or certificates. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation recently uncovered a third using testing centers in Middle Tennessee.

Federal prosecutors say illegal immigrants are drawn to Tennessee because it is one of only two states _ along with Utah _ that offers illegal immigrants a driver's certificate that allows them to drive. Though not legal identification, prosecutors say the certificates often are used to cloak an immigrant's lack of legal residency.

Galvan's accomplice, Armando Rodriquez-Riveros, admitted transporting illegal immigrants to Tennessee. Both men face less than two years in prison and deportation.

U.S. Magistrate Clifford Shirley sentenced five of Galvan's customers to time served, paving the way for deportation.