The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) recently announced that four Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV) employees have been arrested in connection to a voter fraud scheme that included selling fake licenses and identification cards to illegal aliens, some of whom then used the fake IDs to vote illegally in Boston.
Those arrested were: Evelyn Medina, 56, of Boston; Annette Gracia, 37, of Boston; Kimberly Jordan, 33, of Randolph; David Brimage, 46, of Boston; Bivian Yohanny Brea, 41, of Boston; and John Doe – also known in this case as Flako, Miguel, Pablo D. Gonzalez Lopez and Rafael R. Bonano, 32, whose identity and nationality has yet to be determined, the DOJ said.
They were charged in Boston federal court with aggravated identity theft, which provides for a mandatory minimum two years in prison.
Medina, Gracia, Jordan and Brimage were employed as clerks at the Haymarket Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV) at the time of their arrest, and Brea and Flako conspired with the RMV clerks to operate the scheme, the DOJ said.
The ongoing investigation began in October 2015, when Massachusetts State Police received an anonymous letter alleging that a corrupt RMV employee was providing stolen IDs and driver’s licenses, the DOJ said.
The four RMV clerks were allegedly working with Brea, who acted as the document vendor, and Flako, who was dealing and initially selling the documents, the DOJ said.
“The scheme involved several steps. First, it is alleged that Flako, the document dealer, sold a Puerto Rican birth certificate and U.S. Social Security card to Brea, the document vendor, for approximately $900. Brea, in turn, sold the stolen identities for over $2,000 to clients seeking legitimate identities in Massachusetts. These clients included illegal aliens, individuals who were previously deported, and an individual who admitted to previously facing drug charges,” the DOJ explained.
“After Flako sold Brea the false identification papers, Brea typically used the counterfeit documents and false identities and addresses to fraudulently register the clients to vote in the City of Boston,” it continued. “Then, Brea and the client brought the stolen identities to the Haymarket RMV, where Medina, Gracia, Jordan, and/or Brimage would accept cash to illegally issue authentic RMV documents, including Massachusetts licenses and ID cards. The clerks also accepted cash to use the RMV’s system to run queries, including Social Security number audits, to confirm that the identities the clients were stealing actually belonged to verifiable individuals.”
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