DMV employee convicted of taking bribes from two drivers license applicants

ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY PRESS RELEASE

Case # 15WF0525

Date: July 17, 2015

DMV EMPLOYEE CONVICTED AND SENTENCED FOR TAKING BRIBES TO OBTAIN DRIVER’S LICENSES FOR TWO APPLICANTS

WESTMINSTER, Calif. – A Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) employee was convicted and sentenced today for accepting bribes from customers in exchange for providing California driver’s licenses (CDL). Jose Alberto Carrillo, 47, Fresno, pleaded guilty to the court to two felony counts of altering public documents and two felony counts of computer access and fraud. He was sentenced to one year in jail stayed pending completion of 40 hours of community service and three years formal probation, over the objection of the People.

At the time of the crimes, Carrillo worked as a Motor Vehicle Representative at the Westminster DMV Office.

On May 10, 2012, Carrillo offered to alter a customer’s DMV record to reflect that the customer had passed a written driving test, that he had previously failed, in exchange for $100. Carrillo instructed the customer to go to the men’s bathroom to hide the money in between papers to avoid video surveillance. When the customer returned from the bathroom, the defendant accepted the money that was hidden between the papers. Carrillo unlawfully accessed the man’s DMV record on the computer and entered false information that the customer had passed the written tests.

An interim CDL was issued to this customer. Without the record being altered to indicate that the customer passed the written tests, the CDL process could not have continued and the interim CDL could not have been issued.

On June 4, 2012, Carrillo illegally accessed another customer’s DMV record after business hours and entered false information that the customer had provided a U.S. birth certificate as proof of presence in exchange for $500.

This customer was issued a CDL. Without proof of legal presence, the CDL process could not have continued and the CDL could not have been issued.

The DMV became aware of the issue when one of the customers who had paid Carrillo came into the DMV complaining that he had not received his permanent CDL as promised. The DMV Investigations Division investigated this case.

Senior Deputy District Attorney Brock Zimmon of the Special Prosecutions Unit prosecuted this case.

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TONY RACKAUCKAS, District Attorney

Susan Kang Schroeder, Chief of Staff
Office: 714-347-8408
Cell: 714-292-2718

Art Pedroza Editor

Our Editor, Art Pedroza, worked at the O.C. Register and the OC Weekly and studied journalism at CSUF and UCI. He has lived in Santa Ana for over 30 years and has served on several city and county commissions. When he is not writing or editing Pedroza specializes in risk control and occupational safety. He also teaches part time at Cerritos College and CSUF. Pedroza has an MBA from Keller University.

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