Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

PROVIDENCE -- The trial of a former Department of Motor Vehicles clerk accused of issuing valid state drivers' licenses that were sold to inelegible individuals is scheduled to begin today in U.S. District Court.

Dolores Rodríguez LaFlamme, 41, of Providence, has been charged wtih conspiracy, fraudulently producing drivers' licenses and identity theft.

LaFlamme also faces 19 counts of identity fraud and 14 of conspiracy to commit a felony in Providence County Superior Court.

The charges result from an alleged scam at the state Division of Motor Vehicles, uncovered by state police last fall, in which people paid middlemen to obtain the licenses for false identity.

According to a grand jury indictment, other participants in the licensing scam met with prospective license applicants, who paid them between $700 and $2,500 for the licenses. LaFlamme was paid for her work, according to the indictment, and she and an unindicted co-conspirator produced the licenses.

If convicted, LaFlamme could face up to 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for conspiracy and fraudulently producing identity documents; and two years in prison and a $250,000 fine for fraudulent use of identity.

LaFlamme pleaded not guilty to the charges on May 15 before Magistrate Judge David L. Martin, who ordered her detained.

Soraya Santiago, of Pawtucket, who had worked with LaFlamme at the DMV in Pawtucket since 2000, pleaded no contest to one count of identity fraud in April. She was given a three-year suspended sentence with probation and ordered to perform 100 hours of community service.

Santiago originally faced 11 counts of identity theft and 11 counts of conspiracy to commit identity theft.

-- Journal archival reports

 Tags  DMV driver's license Pawtucket Providence RI

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