Summary

On July 29, 2008, in U.S. District Court, Tampa, Florida, Santos Alamo and Gustavo Soler were each sentenced to 21 months imprisonment, followed by 2 years supervised release, for their involvement in a CDL fraud scheme. Previously, Mr. Alamo and Mr. Soler were arrested, along with two accomplices for their role in a Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) fraud scheme and subsequently charged with conspiracy, wire fraud, and the fraudulent production and transfer of identification documents. The DOT/OIG investigation disclosed that both men conspired to pay bribes to an employee of the Pinellas County Tax Collectors Office, Largo, Florida, whose responsibility was to monitor CDL applicants and ensure their qualifications before a CDL was issued. Once this employee received a monetary bribe, they used their employment position to fraudulently issue CDLs to individuals who did not have the requisite training and documentation to support their qualifications.

This DOT/OIG investigation was conducted jointly with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Florida Highway Patrol, and the Florida Department of Highway Safety & Motor Vehicles, Division of Driver License.