PB Post Drivers License Scam!

DELRAY BEACH — In the end, prosecutors say, it was sloppiness and vanity as much as anything that tripped up state examiners who investigators believe took perhaps millions in bribes to issue driver licenses to at least 1,500 illegal immigrants.

Ten people - four examiners at the license office in Delray Beach and six others who conspired to recruit them - have been or soon will be arrested, including two examiners who were charged when the ring was broken in May and who now face new conspiracy counts, the Palm Beach County State Attorney's office said.
Special video report
Video First appearances in court

Arrested in May
Maggie Nelson, 46, of Delray Beach, worked for the agency since 1997.*
Jashonda Kaliha Scott, 25, of Palm Springs, worked for the agency since 2007.
Patreese Harvey, 28, of Palm Springs, worked for the agency since 2006.
Debbie Collins, 42, of Belle Glade, worked for the agency since 2005.*
Melita Dera Zilea, 28, of Coral Springs, worked for the agency since 2008.
Adrien Alex, 42, of Delray Beach, being held for possible deportation to Haiti.
Note: Maggie Nelson and Debbie Collins were arrested again and are in jail this morning.

Debbie Collins

Debbie Collins
Chenita Byrdmosley

Chenita Byrd-Mosley
Osie Carter

Osie Carter
Maggie Nelson

Maggie Nelson
Jonex Moise

Jonex Moise
At least five were brought into court this morning for bond hearings.

Assistant State Attorney Alan Johnson, Palm Beach County's public corruption prosecutor, said the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles is now working to invalidate the illicit licenses.

Examiners took fees ranging from $1,200 to $2,500 per license, witnesses told investigators.

An affidavit produced by the Florida Highway Patrol, which investigated the alleged conspiracy for the department, doesn't give the total take, but the math suggests more than $1 million and as much as several million dollars.

Investigators flagged 6,600 transactions that involved immigration forms and passports, reviewed three-fourths of those, and found 1,503 fake licenses had been issued.

Johnson said investigators hope to study the remaining transactions in coming weeks.

Meanwhile, according to the affidavit, conspirators would generate counterfeit immigration documents and supply them to applicants, often handing paperwork to them in the parking lot of the office at Military Trail and Atlantic Avenue.