Ex-DMV worker gets 71 months in bribe case

Jace Radke

Friday, Aug. 27, 2004 | 8:51 a.m.

A former Department of Motor Vehicles employee was sentenced this morning to 71 months in prison and a $100,000 fine after pleading guilty to taking bribes in exchange for DMV documents that illegal immigrants used to get driver's licenses.

Dalva Flagg, a former DMV technician who has been jailed at the North Las Vegas Detention Center since December 2002, told U.S. District Judge Clive Jones that she has learned a lot during her time in jail.

"I know for a fact I was wrong," Flagg said.

Jones said he appreciated that Flagg felt remorse for what she had done but said Flagg needed more time to continue to think about what she had done.

Jones also ordered Flagg to serve three years of supervised release after she serves her prison sentence.

Flagg, 48, previously pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy, bribery, two counts of structuring transactions to avoid IRS reporting requirements and making and subscribing a false tax return.

The original indictment alleged that Flagg met with co-conspirators at prearranged locations, including the parking lot of the Carey Avenue DMV office, to trade identification documents for between $1,000 and $1,200 each.

The paperwork was used to obtain Nevada driver's licenses and other documents.

Federal prosecutors estimated that about $350,000 was spent by illegal immigrants in order to obtain the false driver's licenses and identification documents.

Tom Jacobs, DMV public information officer, said Flagg handled 532 identification applications and 876 driver's license transactions from May 2000 to April 2002.

About 300 of those 1,408 transactions were questionable, Jacobs said.

The department in December 2002 sent out notices to the 1,408 people telling them to show proof they had valid licenses or identification cards. About 439 people contacted the agency and 969 did not, he said.

The department then canceled the 969 licenses of those who did not respond. Two of the licenses were later found to have been wrongly canceled.

DMV officials have also instituted a laundry list of changes in light of Flagg's abuses, Kevin Malone, a spokesman for the department, said.

Specific changes include more extensive background checks for prospective employees, tighter controls on those whose jobs involves handling money, mandatory supervisory approval on high-level transactions and banning walk-up customers at DMV offices, meaning those who see a technician must first get a number at an "information desk" within the office, Malone said.

The department has also started a policy of "seeking out and aggressively seeking prosecution of those who perpetuate fraud against the government" and hired compliance officers at each DMV location in October 2003 to identify potentially fraudulent documents, he said.

"That way they can turn to a sworn law enforcement officer who will call the person back and do an interview," Malone said. "You can't stop someone like Dalva Flagg from breaking the law if they're intent on it, but the vast majority of DMV employees are honest citizens and honest employees."