Chelsea Man Pleads Guilty In Fraudulent Drivers License Scheme

BOSTON – A Chelsea man pleaded guilty today in connection with a scheme to produce fraudulent identification documents.

Leonel Sanchez, 52, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to produce false identification documents and aggravated identity theft. U.S. District Court Judge Douglas P. Woodlock scheduled sentencing for Jan. 20, 2015 at 2:00 pm. From December 2012 through January 2013, Sanchez bribed an employee of the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles in connection with a scheme to issue Massachusetts driver’s licenses to individuals who presented fraudulently obtained Puerto Rican identification documents.

This plea is the most recent development in investigations involving identity theft and public corruption relating to the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Bruce M. Foucart, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston; Colonel Timothy P. Alben, Superintendent of the Massachusetts States Police; David W. Hall, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Diplomatic Security, Boston Field Office; and Cheryl Garcia, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, New York Regional Office, made the announcement today. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Eugenia M. Carris of Ortiz’s Public Corruption Unit.