Woman At Center Of Massachusetts RMV Licenses-For-Illegal-Aliens Scam Wasn’t Citizen When She Got Job

Printed from: https://newbostonpost.com/2018/01/18/woman-at-center-of-massachusetts-rmv-licenses-for-illegal-aliens-scam-wasnt-citizen-when-she-got-job/

BOSTON – The Jamaica Plain woman who federal authorities fingered as the ringleader in a rogue Registry of Motor Vehicles scheme that involved illegal aliens paying top dollar for phony Massachusetts driver’s licenses was sentenced to 15 months in prison Wednesday.

And according to the sentencing memorandum supplied by her attorney — 56-year-old Evelyn Medina, a Dominican national, landed her job at the RMV three years before she became a United States citizen. 

Medina, who had worked as a clerk at the Haymarket RMV office in Boston, in addition to her sentence will also serve two years of supervised release, according to federal court documents. Medina did not work alone, as records from the Massachusetts U.S. District Court in Boston show that several other conspirators caught up in the sting investigation wound up pleading guilty to one count of “producing without lawful authority an identification document or a false identification document.”

The other RMV employees — Annette Gracia, 37, of Boston; Kimberly Jordan, 33, of Randolph; and David Brimage, 46, of Boston — all pleaded guilty to the above single count.

Court records show that the four RMV employees besides Medina have yet to receive sentences.

The case, reported by the New Boston Post this past fall, sent shockwaves through the RMV and upper levels of government management, punctuated by claims from Massachusetts authorities that the illegal practice was limited to the Haymarket RMV location.

The most recent court entry for Brimage, dated December 14, indicates he “tested positive for marijuana and was not being truthful with probation” regarding the timing of when he consumed the drug.

“Probation states defendant’s current tests are negative and requests the court carry the current conditions of release until sentencing,” Brimage’s December 14 entry states. Brimage is slated to be sentenced on February 1.

Jordan, who is scheduled to for a sentencing hearing on February 6, recently filed an objection to the pre-sentencing report and is contesting the claim by federal investigators that she “actively schemed” with fellow RMV employees Medina, Brimage, and Gracia, along with a previously convicted felon — 32-year-old Angel Miguel Beltre Tejada, a Dominican national who had been living illegally in Jamaica Plain and who authorities connected with another individual, Bivian Yohanny Brea, 41, of Boston.

The scheme involved Tejada, who worked undercover with investigators following a tip sent to Massachusetts State Police by an unnamed RMV employee who tagged Medina. Tejada’s handiwork, according to investigators, involved the theft of documents belonging to Puerto Rico residents who are U.S. citizens who matched the physical descriptions of illegal Dominican Republic nationals.

Tejada, officials alleged, then turned around and sold the identification information to Brea at a clip of $2,700 per identity.

Brea is scheduled to be sentenced on February 7.

Meanwhile, the sentencing memorandum produced for Medina notes that she pleaded guilty on October 25 to a charge of “producing a false identification document.”

“Specifically, in exchange for Ms. Medina’s prompt acceptance of responsibility, the government has agreed not to charge Ms. Medina with aggravated identity theft, and to jointly recommend a 15 months sentence of imprisonment,” the plea deal states.

The memorandum also sheds light on Medina’s background:

 

According to the memorandum, Medina has been an RMV employee since 1996, “a tenure of over 20 years during which her retirement benefits vested.”

The memorandum continues:

“As a result of the offense conduct to which she has admitted, those retirement benefits will almost certainly be forfeit. Because of the manner through which she lost her job, unemployment compensation is also unlikely. As a result, upon her release, Ms. Medina will be compelled to try to find a new way to support herself, as well as an entirely new line of work, and to also start saving anew, at a time when many in the work-force will be beginning to contemplate retirement. In sum, although collateral, the financial consequences of her voluntary decision to plead guilty will have a long-lasting and punishing effect on Ms. Medina’s future well-after her presumed sentence of incarceration has been served.”

According to court documents, Medina became a naturalized United States citizen in 1999 — three years after she began working for the RMV, in 1996.

Per the sentencing memorandum:

“While [Medina] initially attempted to justify her actions in her own mind by trying to convince herself, at the time, that she was providing people like herself who were looking for a new life outside their native country a quick and easy “route” of entry into the United States, she not only knew her actions were both fraudulent and unlawful, but now fully appreciates that the results of her behavior have far-reaching consequences. She recognizes what she did has had the opposite effect of her originally misguided self-justification in that it has helped individuals, who unlike herself and her own family who arrived here lawfully with the expectation of hard work and an unbridled enthusiasm for full citizenship, to instead circumvent the rules of lawful immigration, evade the authorities, avoid paying taxes, and effectively cheat those who are waiting patiently for admission.”

As part of her plea deal, Medina will not face any fines. According to federal court documents, she is slated to report to the federal prison “camp” in Danbury, Connecticut, on February 26 , where she will receive mental health treatment:

Read a copy of Medina’s sentencing memo:

2018 01 Medina Sentencing Memo by Evan on Scribd