07-13-05 -- Pablo, Lyliana -- Guilty Plea -- News Release

Another MVC Employee Pleads Guilty in Corruption Probe

NEWARK - Another former employee of the New Jersey Motor Vehicles Commission pleaded guilty today to conspiring to unlawfully produce fraudulent drivers' licenses, U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie announced.

Lyliana Pablo, 35, of Newark, was Indicted and arrested last September for conspiring to fraudulently produce more than 100 fraudulent drivers' licenses, while she was employed as a customer service representative at the Springfield office of the MVC, formerly the Division of Motor Vehicles Services.

Pablo faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and a fine of $250,000, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian R. Howe. Judge William H. Walls, who took the guilty plea, scheduled sentencing for Oct. 26.

Pablo is among a dozen MVC employees and one non-employee to plead guilty since January 2004 in federal court in connection with the drivers license fraud scheme, in which co-conspirators received hundreds of thousands of dollars to produce and procure licenses for individuals who were not entitled to them.

Others who have pleaded guilty:

• Linda Love, of Willingboro, an examination technician at the MVC's Driver Testing Center in Mount Holly, admitted to permitting certain individuals to take multiple written examinations for drivers' licenses for other individuals. Love admitted to fraudulently generating approximately 750 drivers' licenses - approximately five every week - over a three-year period and receiving cash payments of about $300 for each one. Love was sentenced in April to 30 months in prison.

• Tonya Horn, formerly of Scotch Plains and now of Easton, Pa., a service representative of the Springfield MVC office, admitted that she processed driver permits and licenses without ever having spoken with the respective applicants; she received between $100 and $150 for each of more than 100 fraudulent licenses.

• Marcella Lewis, of Plainfield, an examination technician at the MVC office in Elizabeth, admitted to permitting certain individuals to take multiple written examinations for drivers' licenses for other individuals, and receiving $150 for each of more than 100 fraudulent licenses.

• Sheilina D. Moore, of Clementon, a customer service representative at the MVC Mount Holly office, admitted receiving between $100 and $200 for each of more than 100 bogus licenses she helped produce. Moore was sentenced in June to 12 months in prison.

• Linda Carlo, of Newark, a customer service representative at the MVC Springfield office, admitted receiving $100 for each of more than 100 bogus licenses she helped produce.

• Anita Feathers, of Sloatzburg, N.Y., also a customer service representative at the MVC Springfield office, admitted receiving $100 for each bogus license she helped produce.

• Barbara Carter, 52, of Roselle Park, a customer service representative at DMV Plus, a private agency in Springfield, admitted receiving $500 for each bogus license and MVC identification card she conspired to produce with MVC employees at the Springfield office.

• Rita Peterson, 40, of Newark, a customer service representative at the MVC Springfield office, admitted receiving $100 for each bogus license she helped produce.

• Lori Awan, 39, of North Plainfield, a customer service representative at the MVC Springfield office, admitted receiving $100 for each fraudulent license she helped generate.

• Lauren Joyce, 32, of Union Township, Union County, an MVC customer service representative at the Springfield office, admitted receiving up to $150 for each license she helped to fraudulently produce.

• Juvenal Galarza, a/k/a "Uncle Johnny," 65, of Belleville, an owner of a driving school in Harrison, admitted to having fraudulently transferred between 25 and 99 drivers' licenses to illegal aliens and to receiving cash payments up to $2,000 for each such license; Galarza stated that he made cash payments of $100 to $300 to each MVC employee who assisted in fraudulently generating a particular license.

Christie credited Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Newark, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Leslie Wiser, Jr., for their work in developing the case MVC cases. The Government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian R. Howe of the U.S. Attorney's Special Prosecutions Unit in Newark.

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Defense Attorney for Pablo - Catherine M. Brown, Esq. Morristown