A former Department of Motor Vehicles employee was sentenced Friday to almost two years in prison for accepting bribes in exchange for altering records to fraudulently issue driving licenses and permits, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in California said.
Aaron Gilliam, 51, of Sherman Oaks, pleaded guilty to taking money in exchange for accessing the DMV’s database to alter records and give passing scores to people who never took or passed the written driving test between April 2016 and July 2017, according to the news release.
Gilliam issued at least 57 fraudulent licenses and permits, justice officials said, citing evidence from the investigation.
The former employee worked at the DMV office in Hollywood since 2006, but only started processing driver’s licenses there between 2011 and 2017, authorities said.
Gilliam was charged with conspiracy to commit bribery, identity fraud and unauthorized access of a computer, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
The DMV office in Hollywood is located at 803 Cole Avenue.
This case was investigated by the FBI and the California DMV Office of Internal Affairs.
The Sacramento Bee reports that Gilliam’s sentencing was part of the same criminal investigation as another sentencing from last month, when a former DMV employee from Sylmar was sentenced to more than two years in federal prison after pleading guilty to accepting bribes in exchange for fraudulently issuing 216 commercial driver licenses with her co-conspirator, a North Hollywood woman. Both women worked for the state DMV.