AFFIDAVIT OF SPECIAL AGENT DANA FIANDACA. I, Dana Fiandaca, having been duly sworn, do hereby depose. 1. I am a Special Agent with the United States

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1 AFFIDAVIT OF SPECIAL AGENT DANA FIANDACA I, Dana Fiandaca, having been duly sworn, do hereby depose and state as follows: 1. I am a Special Agent with the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement ( ICE ), formerly the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service ( INS ), and have been so employed since June I am currently assigned to the ICE Document and Benefit Fraud Task Force ( DBFTF ), which investigates the manufacture and sale of fraudulent Immigration and Naturalization Resident Alien Cards, Form I-551, as well as the sale of genuine United States Citizenship and/or Naturalization documents. From my training, I know that persons, usually illegal aliens, obtain genuine citizenship identification documents belonging to other people (e.g., Puerto Rican birth certificates) or counterfeit identification documents to fraudulently misrepresent United States citizenship for the purpose of concealing their true identities and citizenship as well as to reside in the United States and to obtain unauthorized employment. I am aware that Title 18 of the United States Code, Section 1028(a)(7) (identity theft), makes it unlawful to knowingly transfer, possess, or use without lawful authority, a means of an identification of another

2 person with the intent to commit or to aid or abet, or in connection with, any unlawful activity that constitutes a violation of Federal law, or that constitutes a felony under any applicable State or local law. 2. I submit this affidavit in support of an application for a criminal complaint against Janice WASHINGTON ( WASHINGTON ), charging her with identity theft, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1028(a)(7). This affidavit is based on my personal knowledge, information provided to me by other law enforcement officers and ICE agents, information provided to me by a Cooperating Witness ( CW ), and my professional training and experience as a Special Agent. This affidavit is not intended to set forth all of the information that I and other law enforcement personnel have learned during this investigation. SUMMARY OF THE INVESTIGATION 3. As explained below, this investigation has revealed that WASHINGTON is engaged in criminal activity whereby she uses her position as a Customer Service Representative at the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles to create authentic Massachusetts driver s licenses for individuals that she knows are presenting genuine identification documents of other persons. 2

3 BACKGROUND 4. This investigation was initiated based on information received by a confidential witness, hereinafter referred to as the CW. In 2008, DBFTF agents arrested the CW in Framingham, Massachusetts on administrative immigration violations in connection with an undercover investigation into the sale of genuine Puerto Rican birth certificates and social security account cards to illegal aliens. The CW was subsequently indicted in Boston, Massachusetts on an identity theft charge in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1028(a)(7), and other related charges. 5. On January 23, 2009, I attended a proffer of the CW at the United States Attorney s Office in Boston, Massachusetts. The CW claimed that, in exchange for a $1,000 fee, a corrupt employee at the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles ( RMV ) in Quincy, Massachusetts, who was subsequently identified as WASHINGTON, was processing driver s license applications for illegal aliens who, she knew, were presenting counterfeit identification documents as well as genuine identification documents of other persons. The CW stated that WASHINGTON has since relocated to the RMV branch in Braintree. 6. According to the CW, he would sell a genuine Puerto Rican birth certificate and a matching, genuine social 3

4 security account card to a client, usually a Brazilian national illegally in the United States. Those illegal aliens would also seek to obtain a Massachusetts driver s license. The CW would then bring the client to the RMV to see WASHINGTON, who would check the name, date of birth, and social security account number contained in these identification documents against RMV and Social Security Administration ( SSA ) databases to determine whether this biographical information belonged to a real person and whether a driver s license had already issued on that identifying information. If a driver s license had issued or if the social security account number did not match the applicant s purported name or date of birth, WASHINGTON would alert the CW. If, on the other hand, a driver s license had not issued to the person depicted in the identification documents and the biographical information was genuine, WASHINGTON would allow the CW s client to apply for a driver s license in exchange for a $1,000 cash payment to WASHINGTON. The CW made several payments of $1,000 in cash to WASHINGTON in exchange for WASHINGTON s issuance of driver s licenses to persons she knew were not those depicted in the Puerto Rican identification documents. 7. Although the CW s Brazilian clients purported identification documents were clearly from Puerto 4

5 Rico, where Spanish is spoken, WASHINGTON would allow the CW s Brazilian clients to take the written driver s test in Portuguese. The CW claimed that over the course of one year he had brought approximately thirty (30) Brazilian nationals to WASHINGTON to obtain driver s licenses. The CW, who is also a Brazilian national, stated that he had personally paid WASHINGTON in the past for her services and that he had recently obtained his own driver s license from WASHINGTON in exchange for a fee to WASHINGTON. The CW described WASHINGTON as a dark-skinned black female, heavy set, with short, dark hair, who drove a dark-colored Jeep Cherokee. IDENTIFICATION OF JANICE WASHINGTON 8. On January 26, 2009, I conducted surveillance at the Braintree branch of the RMV, located at 10 Plain Street. Upon arrival at the RMV, I observed a black Jeep Cherokee parked in the RMV parking lot. I queried the Massachusetts registration on the vehicle (53T D11) in RMV databases and learned the vehicle was registered to Janice WASHINGTON with Massachusetts driver s license ( MDL ) Sxxxx0690; date of birth xx/xx/60; and address xx xxxxxxxx Street, Apt. x, Brockton, Massachusetts. According to RMV records, WASHINGTON is currently employed as a Customer Service Representative at the Braintree RMV branch. RMV records also show that WASHINGTON has been issued 5

6 several employee identification numbers over the years since her start date: 4205, 4002, 5017, 4020, and current number During a second proffer conducted on January 30, 2009, the CW immediately identified WASHINGTON from a photo array of six (6) black females, all similar in appearance. 10. A subsequent check of RMV records by Trooper Kenneth Skutt of the Massachusetts State Police confirmed that WASHINGTON processed the CW s application for a driver s license on July 30, 2008, and that the CW took the written driver s test in Portuguese. OTHER DETAILS OF THE OFFENSE CONDUCT 11. Acting on this information, RMV officials, state police, and DBFTF agents conducted a further investigation into WASHINGTON s activities at the RMV. The RMV maintains an electronic and searchable database of all transactions conducted by RMV employees. Each transaction record contains the date of the transaction, the identification number of the RMV employee responsible for that transaction, and a brief description of the transaction. Sometimes a complicated transaction, like an approval of a driver s license application, will involve many steps, and each would be recorded in the RMV computer system. 12. RMV officials queried the RMV database for all transactions from August 2007 to January 2009 for 6

7 driver s license applicants who provided a social security account number issued out of Puerto Rico and who took the written driver s test in Portuguese. I determined that there were a total of thirty-six (36) individuals that met these criteria. Using WASHINGTON s employee identification numbers, I determined that out of these thirty-six applications, WASHINGTON processed thirty-four (34). One such applicant was the CW. Another applicant was Melvin G. RODRIGUEZ, who applied for a driver s license on May 15, 2008, and who is the focus of the discussion that follows. 13. According to the RMV protocol, upon being presented with an application for a driver s license, the attending RMV employee would enter the applicant s social security account number, name, and date of birth into the RMV computerized system for verification purposes. The system would then perform an automated, computerized check against a database maintained by the SSA to determine whether the social security account number is valid and whether the applicant s name and date of birth match those maintained by the SSA for that social security account number. If the social security account number has not been issued by the SSA or if the name and date of birth do not match those in the SSA database, the system will so notify the RMV employee. On the other 7

8 hand, if the automated verification process is successful, the RMV employee would be able to proceed to the next step. 14. If the applicant has never applied for any document with the RMV, then the RMV system will not contain any stored information on that applicant. On the other hand, if the applicant had previously provided his or her social security account number to the RMV in connection with a previous application for a driver s permit, a driver s license, or a Massachusetts identification card, the system will display on the computer monitor the corresponding biographical information stored in the RMV database, along with the picture and the signature of the applicant. The RMV employee will then compare the image stored in the RMV database and shown on the computer monitor to the appearance of the applicant to verify that the applicant is in fact the person that he or she claims to be. The RMV employee will electronically capture a new picture and signature of the applicant, associate them with the social security account number provided by the applicant, and store them in the RMV database. The old images of the applicant and his or her signature, if they existed, will also be retained in the RMV database. 15. Based upon their review of the RMV transactions processed by WASHINGTON with respect to RODRIGUEZ s 8

9 application for a driver s license on May 15, 2008, and their inspection of a copy of RODRIGUEZ s application for his driver s license, the DBFTF and the state police learned the following information: On May 15, 2008, an individual appeared at the RMV in Quincy, Massachusetts, and applied for a driver s license using the name Melvin G. RODRIGUEZ; MDL Sxxxx7071; date of birth xx/xx/79; social security account number xxx-xx-6762; and address xx xxxxxx Street, Apt. x, Brockton, Massachusetts. RODRIGUEZ presented WASHINGTON with an RMV application containing the name MELVIN RODRIGUEZ, a Puerto Rican birth certificate bearing the name MELVIN GONZALES RODRIGUEZ, and a social security account number card containing number xxx-xx WASHINGTON entered RODRIGUEZ s purported social security account number, name, and date of birth into the RMV computerized system, and the automated verification process against a SSA database validated the social security account number. 16. The RMV computerized system also recognized the social security account number provided by RODRIGUEZ and displayed on WASHINGTON s computer monitor, for verification purposes, the corresponding biographical information that included the previously stored picture and signature associated with that social security account number. 9

10 17. RMV records show that two different individuals had previously applied for a driver s license using the same biographical information RODRIGUEZ presented to WASHINGTON. The first person applied on May 7, 2004, but the driver s license never issued. The second person applied on May 1, That driver s license also never issued. The RMV database has pictures of both individuals and their signatures. 18. The image of the most recent past applicant (May 1, 2008) would have appeared on the screen in front of WASHINGTON during her processing of RODRIGUEZ on May 15, I reviewed all three stored images of the three applicants and concluded that they are of three separate individuals. Despite the obvious discrepancy in facial characteristics of RODRIGUEZ (May 15, 2008) and the individual in the RMV system (May 1, 2008), WASHINGTON approved the license application for RODRIGUEZ. The RMV subsequently sent the driver s license to RODRIGUEZ through the United States Postal Service. 19. Based on the discrepancy of three individuals applying for a driver s license using the name Melvin G. RODRIGUEZ, the Massachusetts State Police conducted a Facial Recognition Search ( FRS ) on the most recent applicant (May 15, 2008) and the only recipient of the driver s license in the name Melvin G. RODRIGUEZ (MDL Sxxxx7071). The FRS is a computer-based search of RMV 10

11 records using facial characteristics of individuals to determine if duplicate licenses have been issued under other identities. According to Trooper Kenneth Skutt, the FRS search revealed that the recipient of the license for Melvin G. RODRIGUEZ, on May 15, 2008, was issued another driver s license on May 21, 2008 (six days later) in the name Rafael R. HUERTAS; MDL Sxxxx6795; date of birth xx/xx/78; social security account number xxx-xx-4064; with the same address, xx xxxxxx Street Apt. x, Brockton, Massachusetts, appearing on both licenses. According to RMV records, on May 20, 2008, WASHINGTON processed the application for HUERTAS and stored his photograph and signature in the RMV database. I reviewed the photographs of the person captioned in the license image for RODRIGUEZ (May 15, 2008) with the person captioned in the license image for HUERTAS (May 20, 2008) and concluded they are the same person. According to RMV records, HUERTAS presented WASHINGTON with a Puerto Rican social security account number but took the written driver s test in Portuguese. 20. A search of records of the SSA determined that the aforementioned social security account numbers for both RODRIGUEZ and HUERTAS are genuine numbers and match the names and dates of birth provided. They were assigned to HUERTAS and RODRIGUEZ who were born in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, making them United 11

12 States citizens. CONCLUSION 21. Based on the foregoing, I believe probable cause exists to conclude that that on July 30, 2008, the date on which WASHINGTON processed the CW s driver s license application for a payment of cash knowing that the supporting Puerto Rican documents did not belong to the CW, WASHINGTON did knowingly transfer, possess, or use without lawful authority, a means of an identification of another person with the intent to commit or to aid or abet, or in connection with, any unlawful activity that constitutes a violation of Federal law, or that constitutes a felony under any applicable State or local law, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1028(a)(7). I believe probable cause exists to conclude that on May 15, 2008, and again on May 20, 2008, the dates on which WASHINGTON processed the driver s license applications for RODRIGUEZ and HUERTAS, WASHINGTON, did knowingly transfer, possess, or use without lawful authority, a means of an identification of another person with the intent to commit or to aid or abet, or in connection with, any unlawful activity that constitutes a violation of Federal law, or that constitutes a felony under any applicable State or local law, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1028(a)(7). 12

13 Dana Fiandaca, Special Agent Immigration and Customs Enforcement Subscribed and sworn before me this th day of United States Magistrate Judge U.S. District Court 13