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Harwood resident Marion Rose Payne, 55, was sentenced in US District Court to 15 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release for conspiracy to produce and transfer identification documents without lawful authority, specifically, Maryland driver’s licenses.
In addition to her sentence, Payne was also ordered to forfeit $25,000, the amount of profit she made during the scam.
As part of her plea agreement, Payne admitted that between July 2015 and March 2016, she and a co-conspirator working in the Largo MVA branch produced and transferred driver licenses in Maryland without proper authority.
Specifically, prosecutors said that Payne, cohort Warner Antonio Portillo, and others met with prospective Maryland driver’s license applicants who were willing to pay money to obtain a driver’s license illegally, "typically because the applicants were illegal aliens without lawful legal status in the United States or were otherwise unable to obtain a lawfully issued driver’s license.”
Each applicant paid the scammers between $800 and $5,000 in cash for the fraudulent driver’s licenses, according to the Department of Justice.
Portillo and others assisted the applicants to travel to the Largo branch of the MVA and directed the applicants to Payne and other co-conspirators' workstations, prosecutors said, where they got the illegal licenses.
The conspiracy resulted in the unlawful production and transfer of at least 276 Maryland driver’s licenses.
“Payne knew that the documents used in support of the driver’s licenses were fraudulent,” prosecutors stated. "In exchange for the improperly issued driver’s licenses, Portillo paid Payne at least $25,000 in cash and gifts.”
Portillo, 37, a Virginia native, previously pleaded guilty to his role in the scheme and is awaiting sentencing.
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