SACRAMENTO, Calif. - U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced today the completion of prosecutions of 20 defendants in a series of DMV corruption cases charged in the Eastern District of California. Charges against the defendants included bribery of public officials, identity fraud, unauthorized access of computers, and conspiracies to commit those offenses. The defendants included corrupt DMV employees who took bribes, trucking school owners and affiliates who bribed them, and others who participated in the conspiracies. The criminal activities charged in these cases took place throughout California, including the Central Valley, Los Angeles Basin, and as far north as Eureka.
Defendants helped put unqualified commercial drivers on the nation’s highways operating large commercial vehicles even though those drivers had not passed the necessary written and driving tests. DMV employees accepted bribes to enter fraudulent test scores for applicants who had not even taken the tests or who could not pass them. Various trucking schools in California looked for corrupt DMV employees they could bribe to help failing or unqualified students get their commercial licenses anyway. In total, hundreds of fraudulent commercial driver license permits and licenses were issued as a part of these schemes, jeopardizing public safety.
Every defendant charged in the cases has now been convicted and sentenced, except for one who passed away prior to trial. The convicted defendants and their sentences are:
Defendant’s Name
Case Number
Sentence
Shawana Harris
2:17-cr-210 TLN
60 months
Robert Turchin
2:15-cr-161 WBS
51 months
Mangal Gill
2:15-cr-161 WBS
51 months
Andrew Kimura
2:15-cr-161 WBS
46 months & $7,500 fine
Lisa Terraciano
2:17-cr-187 KJM
40 months & $500 fine
Jagpal Singh, aka “Paul"
2:17-cr-210 TLN
39 months
Donald Freeman
2:17-cr-207 KJM
37 months
David Sun
2:17-cr-223 KJM
37 months
Kari Scattaglia
2:17-cr-187 KJM
32 months & $1,000 fine
Rahim Mahboob
2:17-cr-213 GEB
27 months & $58,500 fine
Damanpreet Singh
2:18-cr-89 GEB
24 months
Emma Klem
2:15-cr-139 GEB
23 months
Aaron Gilliam
2:17-cr-200 KJM
22 months
Kulwinder Dosangh Singh, aka“Sandhu" and “Sodhi"
2:15-cr-146 GEB
19 months
Juan Arturo Arroyo Gomez
2:17-cr-207 KJM
12 months
Pavitar Dosangh Singh
2:15-cr-161 WBS
10 months
Parminder Singh
2:17-cr-210 TLN
Time served with 11 months home confinement
Poya Khanjan
2:17-cr-212 JAM
Time served with 6 months home confinement & $9,500 fine
Ruvila “Ruby" Lima
2:17-cr-212 JAM
Time served & $500 fine
Tajinder Singh
2:17-cr-210 TLN
Time served with 7 months home confinement & $5,500 fine
Defendants Terraciano and Sun later had their sentences reduced during the COVID-19 pandemic under the CARES Act.
These cases were the product of an investigation by the California Department of Motor Vehicles, Office of Internal Affairs; the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Homeland Security Investigations; and the Department of Transportation, Office of Inspector General. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rosanne L. Rust and Christopher S. Hales prosecuted the cases.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
