Illegal Alien Sentenced For Conspiring To Produce False ID

BOSTON – An illegal alien was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Worcester in connection with a conspiracy to produce false identification documents.

Leonardo Burgos Espinal, 42, most recently residing in Springfield, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Timothy S. Hillman to time served of 14 months. Burgos Espinal was remanded into the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for deportation. In March 2013, Burgos Espinal was charged with bribing an employee of the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles.

From January 2011 through June 2012, Burgos would direct his “clients” to present fraudulently obtained, but valid, Puerto Rican identification documents to his co-conspirator at the RMV, who would then issue a valid Massachusetts driver’s license or ID knowing that the Puerto Rican documents belonged to other real people. This sentencing 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 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 Eugenia M. Carris of Ortiz’s Public Corruption Unit.