BUFFALO, N.Y. - The United States Attorney’s Office announced today that Latonya Young, 44, an employee of the Erie County Clerk’s Office who was assigned to work at the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles (NYS DMV), pleaded guilty plea to mail fraud before Chief U.S. District Court Judge William M. Skretny. The charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, a fine of $250,000 or both.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Russell T. Ippolito, Jr., who is handling the prosecution, stated that Young worked as a motor vehicle representative at the NYS DMV and was authorized to conduct transactions. The defendant had access to a NYS DMV database and computer system that contained driver’s licenses, and motor vehicle registration and title records.
Between June 13, 2012, and Aug. 30, 2012, Young unlawfully processed fraudulent duplicate title applications for a person working with the government in return for cash payments totaling $725. In processing the fraudulent documents, the defendant unlawfully forged the name of the person listed on the duplicate title applications.
Young also admitted that in 2010, she assisted another in amending a New York State license to create a fake identification. The fake identification was created to enable an individual under the legal drinking age to obtain alcohol.
The plea is the culmination of an investigation on the part of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, NYS Department of Motor Vehicles, under the direction of Commissioner Barbara Fiala, Buffalo Police Department, under the direction of Commissioner Daniel Derenda, NYS Department of Taxation and Finance, Criminal Investigations Division, under the direction of Commissioner Thomas Mattox, NYS Department of Financial Services, under the direction of Superintendent Benjamin Lawsky, Criminal Investigations Division, and the NYS Inspector General’s Office, under the direction of Inspector General Catherine Leahy Scott.
Young is scheduled to be sentenced on April 8, 2015 at 10:00 a.m. before Judge Skretny.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
