Tuesday’s arrests of a manager with the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles and two other people for fraudulently selling drivers licenses serve as another reminder of the nexus between illegal aliens and crime.
Paul McNulty, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, announced that Francisco Martinez, who managed the DMV Customer Service Center in Springfield, and his wife, Miriam, have been charged with conspiracy to commit identification fraud and conspiracy to produce Virginia driver’s licenses by fraud. The third person, Daniel Jose Guardia Lopez, an illegal alien from Bolivia, was arrested on June 13. Mr. Guardia Lopez said he supported himself by working in construction and helping immigrants to fraudulently obtain Virginia’s driver’s licenses.
In announcing the indictments, Mr. McNulty said the three suspects were producing and selling licenses to illegal aliens and other unqualified applicants. Between Jan. 26, 2001, and July 2, 2005 at least 50 fraudulent driver’s licenses were issued, according to court documents.
An affidavit by FBI Agent Pamela Bambardi provides a troubling picture of how Mr. Guardia Lopez, already in the country illegally, became involved in more serious criminal activity. Despite his illegal status, Mr. Guardia Lopez applied for and received a Virginia driver’s license in September 1998. After a series of traffic offenses, his license was suspended four times in 1999 and 2000. It was suspended again on March 22, 2002, and remains suspended to this day.
But a minor inconvenience like the suspension of his license was not going to prevent Mr. Guardia Lopez from driving. According to the Bambardi affidavit, Mr. Guardia Lopez obtained a driver’s license under an alias as a result of Mr. Martinez’s intervention (The fraudulent license was suspended last July when Mr. Guardia Lopez failed to attend driver training classes). So, Mr. Guardia Lopez, thanks to Mr. Martinez’s intervention, fraudulently obtained yet another Virginia driver’s license the following month.
According to the prosecutor, during the past few years, Mr. Guardia Lopez found clients, collected and passed on fees of between $2,000 and $3,500 per case. He also relayed instructions from Mrs. Martinez to those obtaining licenses under false pretenses on when they should go to the Springfield DMV offices to get their licenses.
Earlier this year, however, agents from the State Department’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security learned that something might be amiss at the Virginia DMV, and federal and state authorities launched a six-month investigation that led to the arrests. The case itself reminds us once again of the connection between illegal aliens and other criminal activity.
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