Even up here

[tombogan03884]

http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?articleId=df294e33-7c50-4202-9d52-96169dc1d5bf&headline=Rockholt+pleads+guilty%2c+will+be+star+witness+against+others+charged+in+DMV+bribery+scandal


By JIM KIMBLE
Union Leader Correspondent
1 hour, 41 minutes ago

BRENTWOOD – A key participant in the Department of Motor Vehicle bribery case became a star witness against at least 8 others charged with arranging new aliases for illegal immigrants and criminals through fraudulent driver's licenses.

Donna Rockholt, 47, of Manchester waived indictment and pleaded guilty to eight charges Friday morning in Rockingham County Superior Court, which included felony bribery, conspiracy to commit bribery, theft and possession of a controlled drug with intent to distribute.

Rockholt, a former clerk in the Salem DMV office, admitted to producing bogus driver's licenses, stealing cash from customers and arranging a cocaine deal in Manchester for her husband's friend, all while she was under surveillance of state police and federal investigators.

Those crimes happened between last April and May.

Rockholt is expected to spend at least 12 years in state prison, but will not be sentenced until she fulfills the obligations of her plea deal, which requires her to testify against all of her co-defendants.

State police were first tipped to Rockholt's enterprise in October 2009.

In the last two years, state police estimate Rockholt issued 70 bogus driver's licenses, receiving a $500 payoff per license. The licensing scheme began in May 2005.

Rockholt told investigators she used the money for, "a race horse scam, her daughter's college fund and to pay bills," Senior Assistant Attorney General Jane Young said during the hearing.

Young refused to elaborate on the race-horse scam outside of court.

Customers - many from out of state - paid upwards of $2,500 for drivers' licenses and their payments were distributed to various people involved in funneling people to Rockholt for new licenses, according to prosecutors and court records.

Rockholt would usually get a phone call or text message to let her know in advance a person was coming her way for a driver's license. The customers were supplied with a bogus birth certificate, Social Security card or utility bill before seeing Rockholt.

"She would see people (and then) manipulate the line to get the person to her terminal," Young said.

Rockholt would circumvent testing and security procedures by entering into the state's computer that the customer had a Massachusetts license. But none of the people had Massachusetts driver's licenses, according to Young.

When she successfully issued a bogus license to a customer, she would then text one co-defendant, saying, "The titles passed," or "The pizza had arrived," according to Young.

State police installed a tiny camera at Rockholt's work station, a pen register on her computer and wire tapped her phone in order to detail the inner workings of the bribery scheme.

It led to the indictment of at least a dozen people in state and federal courts.

Aldaberto Medina, 39, of Manchester - a friend of Rockholt's ex-husband - is described as the middleman who first approached Rockholt in 2005 with getting a license for a friend who was an illegal alien and needed help.

The requests from Medina kept coming after that, Rockholt told police.

Medina is facing more than a dozen felony bribery charges. His sister, Adelina Cordona, also of Manchester, is charged with allegedly bringing some customers to the DMV for Rockholt.

While listening to Medina's phone conversations, state police learned he was also allegedly bribing one of their own.

Fred Stamatatos, 40, a former state trooper who lives in Pelham, is now facing a felony bribery charge and several misdemeanor charges for allegedly providing salvage inspection stickers to Medina in exchange for favors, which included work on a Ford Mustang.

Rockholt walked out of court a free woman - still on bail - escorted by her lawyer Richard Lehmann.

"She made mistakes," Lehmann said to reporters outside of the courtroom. "She has admitted responsibility."

[r_w]

There is a lot of light on duty and undercover officers, but IMO the real problems today are in the back office administration like this. 

[fightingquaker13]

Its got be very tempting for a 30k a year clerk. You can make a weeks salary in half an hour by just typing BS into a computer a couple of times.
F13

[tombogan03884]

FQ, it's more like $50 - 75 K

Poor people sell drugs for illegal money, it may be criminal, but it is working for what they get.  You need to go a couple steps higher on the social ladder to find the real scumbags, who sell out the trust placed in them.

[Timothy]

FQ, it's more like $50 - 75 K

yea, I was gonna say 15 bucks an hour was a little low...

We have toll takers on the MA pike making 35 bucks an hour....State jobs are like lifetime appointments too..  turnpike cop last year, with overtime made between 120k to 250K depending on rank...

[Sponsor]

[tombogan03884]

State and city jobs in Ma are Patronage and have to have higher wages since they are basically pay offs.
There are a lot of them you don't even have to show up for, except to pick up the check.
In Mass they call it "White mans welfare".