FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	CONTACT: Lauren Horwood
March 13, 2012	PHONE: (916) 554-2706
www.usdoj.gov/usao/cae	usacae.edcapress@usdoj.gov
Docket #: 1:11-cr-274 LJO

            FRESNO, Calif. — United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that Luis Alberto Moreno Delgado, 31, of Riverdale, pleaded guilty yesterday in a conspiracy to unlawfully produce fraudulent California driver’s licenses.

            According to the plea agreement, Delgado recruited people who wanted a genuine California driver’s license but could not get one through legitimate means. Delgado would have them fill out the DMV application form, and for a fee, he would pass the information and payment on. Once former DMV technician and co-defendant Alfonso Casarez received the information, he electronically altered the individual’s driver’s license application to reflect that the individual had passed required DMV tests that had never been taken or that the individual had failed. After alteration of the records, the DMV automatically issued and mailed a genuine driver’s license to the individual. Delgado admitted to recruiting three people for this scheme, one of whom received a Class A commercial license.

            This case is the product of an investigation by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the California Department of Motor Vehicles, Investigations Division, Office of Internal Affairs. Assistant United States Attorneys Henry Z. Carbajal III and Grant B. Rabenn are prosecuting the case.

            Delgado is scheduled to be sentenced by United States District Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill on May 29, 2012 at 8:30 a.m. He faces a maximum statutory penalty of five years in prison. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.

            Charges are currently pending against Casarez, as well as 11 other co-defendants. All remaining defendants are scheduled for a hearing before Judge O’Neill on May 21, 2012. The charges against the defendants are only allegations and they are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

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