TRENTON – Attorney General Jeffrey S. Chiesa announced Friday that a former clerk at the Lodi Motor Vehicle Agency was sentenced to state prison for illegally selling New Jersey digital driver’s licenses to unauthorized persons.
Cristian J. Toledo, 33, of North Bergen, a former clerk at the North Bergen Motor Vehicle Agency, was sentenced to four years in state prison by Superior Court Judge Paul M. DePascale in Hudson County. Toledo pleaded guilty on March 12 to a charge of second-degree computer theft. He will be permanently barred from public employment in New Jersey. Deputy Attorney General Frank Brady Jr. prosecuted the case and handled the sentencing for the Division of Criminal Justice.
In pleading guilty, Toledo admitted that he conspired with a broker to sell New Jersey digital driver’s licenses to customers who did not have the required six points of identification.
Toledo was among 40 defendants named in indictments unsealed on Dec. 5, 2011, which also alleged conspiracies to illegally sell driver’s licenses out of the East Orange, Edison, Lodi and Jersey City motor vehicle agencies. In some cases, the customers, who are foreign nationals, did not qualify for a license because they were in the U.S. illegally. In other cases, they lacked sufficient documentation. The customers paid between $2,500 and $7,000 for a license or license renewal, and the MVC clerks and brokers split the proceeds. The indictments resulted from joint investigations by the Division of Criminal Justice and Motor Vehicle Commission.
The investigations were conducted by members of the Division of Criminal Justice MVC Unit, within the Specialized Crimes Bureau, and the Motor Vehicle Commission’s Division of Security, Investigation and Internal Audit.
Attorney General Chiesa and Director Taylor noted that the Division of Criminal Justice has established a toll-free tipline 1-866-TIPS-4CJ for the public to report corruption, financial crime and other illegal activities. The public can also log on to the Division of Criminal Justice webpage at www.njdcj.org to report suspected wrongdoing. All information received through the Division of Criminal Justice tipline or webpage will remain confidential.