Washington, D.C. – A 35-year-old Lanham, Maryland woman, Gloria Gonzalez-Paz, has been sentenced to 24 months in prison for her role in a bribery scheme in which she paid a DMV employee thousands of dollars in exchange for dozens of facially valid, but fraudulently obtained, District of Columbia driver’s licenses that were issued to foreign nationals between early 2007 and January 2008, U.S. Attorney Jeffrey A. Taylor, FBI Assistant Director in Charge Joseph Persichini, Jr., and District of Columbia Inspector General Charles J. Willoughby announced today.

Gonzalez-Paz, who is originally from El Salvador, received her sentence this afternoon in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia before the Honorable Richard J. Leon, who also ordered that, following the defendant’s release from prison, the defendant be placed on 36 months of supervised release during which time she is to complete 250 hours of community service. On May 13, 2008, Gonzalez-Paz pled guilty to Paying a Bribe to a Public Official.

“Simple, pure greed fueled this defendant’s illegal activities,” said U.S. Attorney Taylor. “Gloria Gonzalez-Paz not only exploited many hard-working immigrants who barely earned enough to get by, but she also had no regard for the security of this country as reflected by her willingness to assist individuals, many of whose true identity she did not know, in receiving facially valid driver’s licenses through fraudulent means. Her conduct was not only despicable and reckless, but also dangerous to the safety and security interests of the United States.”

As Assistant U.S. Attorney Susan B. Menzer explained to the Court during the previous plea proceedings, the District of Columbia permits foreign nationals, who are legally present in the United States and can continue to legally reside in the United States for at least another six months, to obtain driver’s licenses. To apply for a driver’s license, however, a foreign national must complete an application and present proof of his name, date of birth, social security number, and District of Columbia residency. Once a foreign national establishes his eligibility to obtain a driver’s license, he must pass the vision screening test and, depending upon whether he possesses a valid out-of-state or foreign driver’s license, he must take either or both the knowledge and road skills tests. Any District of Columbia driver’s license issued to a foreign national, however, remains valid only as long as that individual is legally present in the United States.

At her May 13, 2008 plea hearing, Gloria Gonzalez-Paz admitted that in the Spring of 2007, she solicited the assistance of a DMV employee, Patricia Gonzalez, 39, of Takoma Park, Maryland, to obtain a driver’s license for an illiterate uncle. Sometime thereafter, Gonzalez-Paz began bringing other foreign nationals to Gonzalez to obtain facially valid driver’s licenses. Most of these individuals were not eligible to obtain such driver’s licenses because they did not reside in the District of Columbia or were not legally present within the U.S. or for as long as Gonzalez entered into the DMV computer system. Gonzalez-Paz admitted to bringing dozens of individuals to Gonzalez for which she received between $1,000 and $1,700. After the fraudulent driver’s licenses were issued, Gonzalez-Paz admitted paying Gonzalez between $500 and $700 for each fraudulent license that Gonzalez issued.

On May 19, 2008, Patricia Gonzalez pled guilty to Receipt of a Bribe by a Public Official. She is scheduled to be sentenced on August 14, 2008.

In addition to Gonzalez and Gonzalez-Paz’s guilty pleas, Salvador Diaz, 33, of Silver Spring, Maryland, previously pled guilty to payment of a bribe to a public official for bringing foreign nationals to Gonzalez at the Brentwood branch of the DMV to fraudulently obtain driver’s licenses. He is scheduled to be sentenced on October 2, 2008. Nine other individuals, all of whom fraudulently obtained facially valid D.C. driver’s licenses from Gonzalez, have pled guilty to misdemeanor fraud and are awaiting sentencing. None of these individuals took the required examinations and only one resided in D.C., but they nevertheless obtained facially valid driver’s licenses. They face a maximum sentence of 180 days and a fine of $1,000.

In announcing today’s sentence, U.S. Attorney Taylor, FBI Assistant Director in Charge Persichini and Inspector General Willougby commended the investigatory work of FBI Special Agents Albert Tenuta and Sean Ryan and District of Columbia Office of the Inspector General Special Agent Teddy Clark. They also praised Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ellen Chubin Epstein and Susan B. Menzer, who are prosecuting the cases.