A Colorado motor vehicles clerk faces federal charges stemming from accusations that she lied about her knowledge of an ongoing driver’s license scam.
Patricia Bess, who no longer works at the Division of Motor Vehicles, appeared in federal court Wednesday to be advised of the charges.
The accusations against Bess are part of what authorities have said is a web of cooperation among state driver’s license clerks and intermediaries who sold licenses to people unqualified to get them legitimately.
A federal investigation has resulted in the arrests of two driver’s license clerks accused of selling the coveted state documents, the suspension of dozens of suspect driver’s licenses, and reforms within the state DMV.
The charges against Bess, according to the complaint, came about because she initially told investigators she knew nothing about colleagues selling licenses.
In a follow-up interview six months later, she admitted she had lied to investigators and had known many details of a scheme by a fellow clerk to accept bribes in exchange for licenses, according to an affidavit by Joe O’Haver, a special agent with the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Bess told investigators she knew how Virginia Villegas, a fellow clerk, entered false test scores for her clients, according to the affidavit.
Last year, Villegas admitted in open court to altering test scores for money so that unqualified applicants could get learner’s permits and eventually Colorado commercial driver’s licenses. Villegas was sentenced in October to 18 months in federal prison.
According to the affidavit filed in the case, Bess told a DMV director that Villegas had threatened her if she revealed Villegas’ wrongdoing.
“If I go down, you will go down, too,” Bess said in relating one of the threats.
Bess is charged with failure to report a crime and making a false statement and could face up to eight years in federal prison and a fine of $500,000.
Staff writer Alicia Caldwell can be reached at 303-820-1930 or acaldwell@denverpost.com.
