Driver’s license bureau employee, three others indicted on federal fraud charges

A 35-year-old St. Peters man and three others have been charged by the United States Attorney’s Office with providing drivers’ licenses and non-driver identification cards to illegal immigrants.

According to the indictment, between March 2010 and December 2011, Jorge Fabian Pesqueda Perez of St. Peters, Ricardo Ortiz, aka Jose Ramos Jr., 31, of Montgomery City, Mo., and Yvette Roberson, 59, of Jennings, provided individuals who were illegally in the United States, such as co-defendant Elizabeth Cervantes, 27, of St. Peters, with counterfeit and stolen birth certificates and social security cards.

Perez and Ortiz instructed the individuals to approach Roberson, an employee of a privately-operated Missouri Department of Revenue Office in St. Louis County, and present her with the fraudulent documents. Upon receipt of the fraudulent documents, Roberson allegedly issued genuine state of Missouri driver’s licenses and non-drivers identification documents to the individuals.

Those who received driver’s licenses were not required to prove their ability to safely operate motor vehicles, court documents state.

Roberson, Ortiz and Perez were indicted by a federal grand jury on multiple charges including conspiracy, production of false identification documents, and possession of 15 or more access devices. Cervantes is charged with possession of a false identification document.

If Ortiz, Pesqueda, and Roberson are convicted, these charges carry penalty ranges between one to 15 years in prison and/or fines up to $250,000. If Cervantes is convicted, the charge of possession of a false identification document carries a penalty of not more than one year in prison and or fines up to $100,000. In determining the actual sentences, a judge is required to consider the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, which provide recommended sentencing ranges.