Drivers got licenses without taking or passing test — and bribes were involved, feds say

Drivers looking to get a license without taking or passing a road test bribed a driving school owner to do so in Massachusetts, according to federal prosecutors.

The driving school owner kept a portion of the bribes before paying the rest to a road test examiner — who is accused of lying about the drivers passing tests at the Registry of Motor Vehicles in Brockton, court documents show.

Then, the drivers would get their licenses in the mail, according to court documents. The owner paid the road test examiner $17,000 in total as part of the scheme, prosecutors said.

The man, 61, of Brockton, has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit honest services mail fraud on April 5, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts announced in a news release.

Massachusetts criminal defense attorney Nate Amendola, who represents the man, told McClatchy News his client pleaded guilty “because it was in his best interest.”

“He’s deeply embarrassed about his conduct,” Amendola said. “He looks forward to telling the court and the public his story during sentencing.”

The man is facing up to 20 years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine at a sentencing hearing scheduled for Aug. 1, prosecutors said.

The bribery scheme

The driving school owner and the road test examiner aimed to “enrich themselves personally” through the bribery scheme between September 2019 and April 2021, according to court documents.

People who held a learner’s permit paid the bribes, according to prosecutors. After the driving school owner received their money, he sent portions of the bribes to the road test examiner via CashApp, prosecutors said.

In one example, someone who never took their road test paid the driving school owner $300, according to court documents. Then, the owner paid the road test examiner, who is accused of later falsely certifying the individual as having passed the road test, $150 while keeping the other half, prosecutors said.

Some permit holders who paid for licenses arrived at the Brockton RMV and simply drove around the parking lot, court documents say.

Meanwhile, others never physically showed up before they were issued their licenses, according to prosecutors.

Now, prosecutors are seeking a $17,000 forfeiture money judgment from the driving school owner, the release said.

Homeland Security Investigations’ Document and Benefit Fraud Task Force led the investigation with help from the Mattapoisett Police Department in Plymouth County.

Brockton, also in Plymouth County, is about 25 miles south of Boston.

This story was originally published April 6, 2023 at 10:32 AM with the headline "Drivers got licenses without taking or passing test — and bribes were involved, feds say."

Julia Marnin

McClatchy DC

Julia Marnin covers courts for McClatchy News, writing about criminal and civil affairs, including cases involving policing, corrections, civil liberties, fraud, and abuses of power. As a reporter on McClatchy’s National Real-Time Team, she’s also covered the COVID-19 pandemic and a variety of other topics since joining in 2021, following a fellowship with Newsweek. Born in Biloxi, Mississippi, she was raised in South Jersey and is now based in New York State.