Thread: Feds continue to turn up suspects in fake D.C. license scam

Feds continue to turn up suspects in fake D.C. license scam

Washington Examiner
By: Scott McCabe
Examiner Staff Writer
October 4, 2009

A Silver Spring man who allegedly helped illegal immigrants obtain fake driver’s licenses was charged in an ongoing investigation into a ring that bought the fraudulent IDs from a D.C. Department of Motor Vehicles employee.

Carlos Berrios, 46, was charged last week with aggravated identity theft. Berrios, who works at a Georgetown restaurant, faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted, according to the federal statute.

Berrios is at least the 16th person charged in an investigation highlighted last year by an FBI raid of the DMV office in Georgetown.

DMV employee Patricia E. Gonzalez, 40, of Takoma Park, pleaded guilty to receiving bribes and admitted to issuing about 200 licenses from the DMV’s Brentwood and Georgetown branches; she took more than $10,000 for her role.

One of the people who obtained a fraudulent driver’s license has been arrested as part of an armed truck hijacking crew in New York.

Prosecutors said the scheme was fueled by simple greed and a complete disregard for the security of the country.

Gonzalez has been helping authorities from federal prison in West Virginia. Last month, Gonzalez positively identified Berrios from a photo spread, federal investigators said.

Berrios approached immigrants at a bus stop or restaurant and asked whether they needed a fake driver’s license, according to an affidavit signed by an FBI Agent Albert E. Tenuta.

Berrios charged $1,000 to $2,000 per driver’s license and drove the people to the DMV. Sometimes he would wait in his car and sometimes he would go into the driver’s license office and arrange for his customer to meet Gonzalez.

Gonzalez would not require the people to take the driving exams or road tests and did not require them to verify their identities. At first she issued the driver’s licenses for free because she sympathized with the immigrants. After a while she began to accept $500 to $1,000 per job.

When the FBI approached her, she immediately admitted to her crime. She was sentenced to a year and a half in federal prison.

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Third world mentality equates to making money but whatever means they can...............