Over a dozen people in California were convicted and sentenced in connection to a series of Department of Motor Vehicle corruption cases throughout the state, including in the Los Angeles area, according to the Department of Justice.
The DOJ said in a news release that the 20 defendants included DMV employees, owners of trucking schools, the affiliates who bribed them and various others who conspired to bribe employees, KTLA sister station KTXL reports.
According to the DOJ, they were charged with various crimes including, “bribery of public officials, identity fraud, unauthorized access of computers, and conspiracies to commit those offenses.”
The actions of the defendants reportedly helped put unqualified commercial drivers who operated large commercial vehicles on highways despite the drivers not passing their written and driving tests. Employees would accept bribes to enter fraudulent scores for those who did not pass their tests and in some cases had not even taken the test, according to the DOJ.
Various trucking schools looked for DMV employees that they could bribe so students that failed or were unqualified could get their licenses, the DOJ said.
According to the DOJ, “hundreds of fraudulent commercial driver license permits and licenses were issued as a part of these schemes.”
The conspiracies occurred throughout California, taking place in the Los Angeles area, the Central Valley and Eureka, the DOJ said.