State employee sentenced in Massachusetts for fraudulent document scheme
BOSTON — A former state employee was sentenced in federal court Tuesday for conspiring to produce false identification documents.
This sentence resulted from an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations’ (HSI), U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Services (DSS), the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) and the Massachusetts State Police.
Rommer Valdez, 39, of Boston, was sentenced to five months in prison and three years of supervised release, the first five months of which is to be served in home confinement. He must also forfeit $26,200 and pay a fine of $3,000. Valdez had previously pleaded guilty in July to one count of conspiring to produce a false identification document.
“Fraudulent documents are a matter of national security and are a direct threat to the safety of Americans,” said Special Agent in Charge Matthew Etre of HSI Boston. “HSI’s Document and Benefit Fraud Task Force includes highly skilled federal agents and local officers whose primary responsibility is protecting the homeland through rooting out schemes such as these.”
Etre also explained that HSI’s primary focus, beyond national security, would be individuals who use these documents to gain a position of public trust. “This is a vulnerability to public safety and HSI is determined to detect and close these threats,” Etre said.
The Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV) issues identification documents such as drivers’ licenses, learners’ permits and state identification cards. To prevent people from obtaining a fraudulent identification document, the RMV has systems to verify whether an applicant’s identity information is accurate. Valdez, who worked as a clerk at the RMV office in Watertown, Massachusetts, was responsible for verifying the validity of submitted documents.
From December 2010 to December 2012, Valdez participated in a conspiracy to help some people obtain identification documents, based on fraudulent information. In other words, he helped obtain documents that bore the applicant’s picture, but listed someone else’s identity information.
Other co-conspirators obtained legitimate identification documents which were given to the RMV as proof of (false) identity. Before sending people to the RMV with this “proof,” the co-conspirators sent Valdez the names, Social Security numbers and dates of birth for these identities and asked him to verify whether this information would pass the RMV’s checks. Valdez would do so and report back to the co-conspirators. If the information passed, the co-conspirators provided the documents to a person, who later presented them to the RMV (although not necessarily at Valdez’s station) to obtain an identification document in that false identity.
On other occasions, the co-conspirators sent individuals with false identification documents directly to Valdez’s station at the RMV. When Valdez spotted such a customer, he signaled the customer to approach and submit his or her application and proof of (false) identity. Valdez then processed the application, knowing that it was fraudulent. He also let the person take whatever tests the RMV required, all using the false identity.
Valdez checked identity information at least 136 times and accepted false proof of identity from customers at least 42 times, in exchange for bribes totaling approximately $26,000.
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