09-23-04 -- Pablo, Lyliana, et. al. -- Indictments -- News Release

Two More Motor Vehicles Agency Employees Charged in Corruption Probe

NEWARK - Two employees of the New Jersey Motor Vehicles Commission were arrested today on federal Indictments charging each with conspiring to unlawfully produce driver's licenses, U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie announced.

Lyliana Pablo, 34, of Newark, is charged in one Indictment with conspiring from about January 2001 to about April 2003, while she was employed as a customer service representative at the MVC office in Springfield, to fraudulently produce 100 or more driver's licenses.

Lauren Joyce, 32, of Vauxhall, is charged in another Indictment with conspiring from around May 2000 to around January 2001, while she also worked as a MVC customer service representative at the Springfield office, to produce six or more driver's licenses without lawful authority to do so.

Pablo and Joyce are the 12th and 13th individuals since January to be charged federally for their participation in a vast driver's license fraud scheme, in which employees of the state agency and non-employees received hundreds of thousands of dollars to produce and procure licenses for individuals who were not entitled to such licenses.

Both Pablo and Joyce face a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and a fine of $250,000, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian R. Howe. Under U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, the U.S. District Judge to whom the cases are assigned, upon conviction, would determine the actual sentences based on a formula that takes into account the severity and characteristics of the offenses and the defendants' criminal history, if any.

The following ten individuals have plead guilty so far:

• Tonya Horn, 33, 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, 36, of Plainfield, an examination technician at the MVC office in Elizabeth, admitted to permitting certain individuals to take multiple written examinations for driver's licenses for other individuals, and receiving $150 for each of more than 100 fraudulent licenses.

• Sheilina D. Moore, 28, 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.

• Linda Carlo, 41, 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, 53, of Sloatzburg, NY, 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 MVC 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.

• Linda M. Love, 44, of Willingboro, an examination technician at the MVC office in Mount Holly, admitted to having fraudulently generated approximately 750 driver's licenses and receiving approximately $300 for each bogus license she helped 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 driver's 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.

Despite the Indictments, every defendant is presumed innocent, unless and until found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, following a trial at which the defendant has all of the trial rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and federal law.

Christie credited Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Newark, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Joseph Billy, Jr., for their work in developing the cases.

The Government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian R. Howe of the U.S. Attorney's Special Prosecutions Unit in Newark.

Defense Attorney:

Pablo - Catherine M. Brown, Esq. Morristown, NJ

Joyce - Jack S. Furlong, Esq. West Trenton, NJ