A man who set up the illegal sale of Colorado commercial driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants was sentenced to probation Monday in exchange for his pledge to help federal authorities pursue what they are calling an active public-corruption investigation.
Juan Francisco Alderete-Diaz connected those seeking licenses with Virginia Villegas, a state Division of Motor Vehicles clerk who used her position to illegally sell licenses to unqualified people, according to arrest documents.
The two are part of a wide-ranging federal investigation that so far has resulted in five arrests. Investigators have said they are looking into whether there is a broader conspiracy or network of knowledge among clerks who are defrauding the system.
On Monday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Mackey reassured U.S. District Judge Phillip Figa that the reduced sentence Alderete-Diaz was receiving was justified in light of the help he is offering prosecutors.
And while Mackey wouldn’t comment on the potential for future indictments, documents filed in the Villegas case hint at other possible targets.
Villegas, who has pleaded guilty and is to be sentenced this month, told federal investigators that Terry Bishop, a former DMV employee, had shown her and two other clerks at a driver’s license office on West Mississippi Avenue how to enter fake records and not get caught. Bishop has been charged, but the two unnamed clerks have not.
Villegas said she learned how to get into the state computer to create false records for clients – including names, Social Security numbers, addresses and other identifiers, according to a plea agreement in her case. She also could alter test scores to give clients passing grades.
In summer 2004, authorities learned from a confidential informant that Alderete-Diaz, also known as Kiko, was negotiating deals to sell licenses through the DMV office on West Mississippi Avenue, according to arrest documents.
The informant said Alderete-Diaz was charging between $2,500 and $4,000 for a license.
Federal investigators listened in as the informant arranged through Alderete-Diaz to buy a fraudulent Colorado commercial driver’s license with an endorsement that would allow the driver to haul hazardous materials.
In accepting the recommended sentence of probation, Figa said he was concerned about the dangerous nature of the criminal activity detailed in court pleadings.
“There are public-safety issues involved when a commercial license is obtained fraudulently,” Figa said.
Staff writer Alicia Caldwell can be reached at 303-820-1930 or acaldwell@denverpost.com.
