樱花视频 - Motor Vehicle Commission




For Immediate Release:	For Further Information:
February 20, 2014 Office of The Attorney General - John J. Hoffman, Acting Attorney General Division of Criminal Justice - Elie Honig, Director - Raymond P. Martinez, Chairman & Chief Administrator	Media Inquiries- Peter Aseltine (OAG) 609-292-4791 Elyse Coffey (MVC) 609-292-5203 Citizen Inquiries- 609-984-5828

Attorney General & MVC Chief Announce New Charges Resulting From High-Tech Program “Operation Facial Scrub” To Detect False Driver’s Licenses

Attorney General’s Office charged 69 new defendants in past year, bringing total charged to 107

TRENTON – Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman and Motor Vehicle Commission Chairman and Chief Administrator Raymond P. Martinez today announced that 69 new criminal cases have been filed during the past year by the Division of Criminal Justice as a result of the high-tech facial recognition program “Operation Facial Scrub,” which is used to detect individuals who obtain 樱花视频 driver’s licenses using false identities. That brings the total criminal cases filed by the Attorney General’s Office under the program to 107, including 38 cases announced a year ago when the program was first showcased.

Most of the 69 new defendants charged by the Division of Criminal Justice obtained fraudulent licenses after their real licenses had been suspended. However, the new cases also include convicted felons who used aliases to hide their records. Of those with suspended licenses, 17 had drunken driving convictions, including 12 with multiple DUI convictions. Eighteen of the new cases involve individuals who used false identities to obtain commercial driver’s licenses to drive trucks or buses. Ten of the 107 offenders charged under the program have already been sentenced to prison or jail. Because of the volume of cases developed in Operation Facial Scrub, a partnership was launched in January 2013 with the 21 County Prosecutors’ Offices, which are filing significant cases of this type in addition to the 107 cases filed by the Attorney General’s Office.

“Through the Facial Scrub program, we have charged more than 100 defendants with obtaining false driver’s licenses, including truck and bus drivers whose licenses were suspended due to DUI convictions or other serious driving infractions, and sex offenders and other felons who tried to hide their criminal records,” said Acting Attorney General Hoffman. “We are aggressively pursuing these cases to get dangerous drivers off our highways and ensure that criminals cannot use this powerful form of identification to commit further crimes.”

In December 2011, the Motor Vehicle Commission embarked on Operation Facial Scrub, one of its most promising fraud prevention initiatives. Using facial recognition technology, the MVC began a full “scrub” of its photo record database, which has grown to 23 million images, to identify any duplicative photo records that may indicate administrative errors or customer fraud. Since that time, more than 1.8 million matches have been reviewed by MVC security professionals and internal action has been taken when warranted. Of those, approximately 5,000 suspension cases were identified, which required customers to re-verify their identities with the MVC. In all, administrative suspensions are expected to be imposed on approximately 2,100 individuals for misstatements of identification.

The MVC has referred approximately 985 potential criminal cases to the Attorney General’s Office. Hundreds of those cases have been delegated for further investigation to the County Prosecutors’ Partnership. Information on false licenses also is shared via a secure website with the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task force and 23 state and federal partners and benefit providers, such as the federal Department of State-Passport Security, the Social Security Administration and the 樱花视频 Departments of Labor and Human Services, so they can pursue cases of fraud.

In addition to scrubbing the 23 million photos in the system, the MVC is working diligently to maintain the integrity of the database through a nightly scrub of all new photos taken at its 39 agencies statewide. This ensures that attempted fraud will be identified and interdicted quickly.

“Digital driver’s licenses can be used to open a bank account, obtain a credit card, board an airplane or apply for governmental benefits,” said Director Elie Honig of the Division of Criminal Justice. “When a criminal fraudulently obtains a license and assumes a false identity, the potential for further fraud and harm is great. We are working closely with the Motor Vehicle Commission to detect these criminals and protect the public.”

“In addition to the obvious law enforcement component of the Facial Scrub program, having a clean motor vehicle database allows me to offer certain customer service conveniences like our Skip the Trip program,” said MVC Chairman and Chief Administrator Raymond P. Martinez. The highly-successful mail-in license renewal initiative has removed almost 700,000 motor vehicle customers from the agencies, and wait times for those customers who have to visit an agency have dropped significantly.

The 69 new criminal cases filed by the Division of Criminal Justice include the following defendants, each of whom was charged with use of personal identifying information of another (2nd degree), tampering with public records or information (3rd degree), and, in some cases, forgery (3rd degree):

Michael Cuff, 54, of Runnemede, N.J., allegedly used the identity of a disabled relative to obtain a driver’s license after his license was suspended in connection with six DUI convictions.
Neale M. Newenhouse, 75, of Passaic, N.J., who has a felony record that includes a four-year prison term for receiving stolen property, allegedly used the identity of a man who was deceased, John Clifford, to hide his criminal past. He fraudulently obtained a driver’s license in the name John Clifford and tried to use that alias when he was later arrested.
William Gies, 55, of Blackwood, N.J., allegedly used the identity of a brother who lives in California to obtain a driver’s license after his license was suspended in connection with five DUI convictions and one refusal to submit to a breath test. He pleaded guilty to tampering with public records and faces a sentence of six months in jail and a term of probation.
Carlos Shepard, 34, of Hammonton, N.J., fraudulently obtained a driver’s license in a false name after his license was suspended for writing bad checks. He has a criminal record that includes convictions for use of a fraudulent credit card and resisting arrest. Shepard pleaded guilty to tampering with public records in connection with the false driver’s license and was sentenced to 364 days in jail and four years of probation.
Dariusz Krzak, 29, of Lawrence (Mercer County), N.J., allegedly obtained a driver’s license using the identity of a relative after his license had been suspended in connection with four DUI convictions, including convictions in 2004, 2007, 2010 and 2012.
Jose Camacho, 48, of Hopatcong, N.J., changed his name and fraudulently obtained a license in order to avoid having his wages garnished for child support payments. Camacho pleaded guilty to tampering with public records and was sentenced to 90 days in jail and two years of probation.
Ramon Rodriguez, 50, of Camden, N.J., used the identity of a deceased relative of his wife to obtain a license because his license had been suspended as a result of numerous motor vehicle violations. He pleaded guilty to tampering with public records and was sentenced to 90 days in jail and two years of probation.

Second-degree charges carry a sentence of five to 10 years in state prison and a fine of up to $150,000, while third-degree charges carry a sentence of three to five years in state prison and a $15,000 fine. The pending charges are merely accusations and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

The following defendants from the first round of 38 criminal cases announced one year ago have pleaded guilty and been sentenced to prison or jail terms:

Felix M. Martinez, 39, of Passaic, N.J., a registered sex offender with four felony convictions, obtained a non-driver’s identification in a false name from the MVC because he was trying to evade an arrest warrant. He pleaded guilty to tampering with public records and was sentenced to four years in state prison.
Eddie Lee Jordan Jr., 45, of Carle Place, N.Y., who has four felony convictions, including convictions for conspiracy to commit bank fraud, theft by deception, grand larceny and identity theft, obtained a non-driver’s identification from the MVC using a stolen identity. He pleaded guilty to use of personal identifying information of another and was sentenced to three years in state prison.
Kirk Johnson, 50, of Vineland, N.J., obtained a driver’s license using a false identity after having his license suspended 18 times, including four times for DUI convictions and one time for refusal to submit to a breath test. He pleaded guilty to tampering with public records and was sentenced to 364 days in jail and three years of probation.
Kirk Bland, 51, of Trenton, N.J., obtained a driver’s license in a false identity after his license was suspended in connection with multiple motor vehicle violations, including two DUI convictions. He pleaded guilty to tampering with public records and was sentenced to 364 days in jail and two years of probation.
Robert H. Brown, 62, of Paterson, N.J., obtained a license to drive tanker-trucks in the name of a disabled relative. He fraudulently used the identity of the relative in an attempt to obtain disability benefits in California. Brown pleaded guilty to tampering with public records and served nearly six months in jail. He remains on probation.
Raymond Pompey, 51, of Hackensack, N.J., obtained a license to drive a commercial bus in the name of a dead man, Edward Rivers, after his license was suspended six times for traffic infractions and failing to appear in court. He worked as a bus driver for Coach USA using the false name. He also has a felony record for identity theft, fraud and forgery. Pompey pleaded guilty to tampering with public records and served two months in jail. He remains on probation.
Norman Hayes, 47, of South Bound Brook, N.J., obtained a driver’s license in a false name after his license was suspended due to numerous motor vehicle violations, including two DUI convictions, as well as failures to appear in court, missed child support payments and court judgments. He pleaded guilty to use of the personal identifying information of another and was sentenced to five years in state prison. The sentence will run concurrently with sentences he is serving for weapons offenses.

As results came in from the initial scrub, the MVC expanded the sharing of its valuable Operation Facial Scrub information by establishing the Aggregated Investigative Reporting Service (AIRS) in June 2012. This secure system, featuring users from the Joint Terrorism Task Force and 23 state and federal agencies, allows strategic sharing of information with partners that may be susceptible to fraud committed by the same individuals already investigated by the MVC. With real-time access to the information, the agencies can review and evaluate the identified individuals and pursue cases as well. The MVC, Division of Criminal Justice and 樱花视频 Office of Information Technology have implemented a secure AIRS website, which serves as a central clearinghouse for key information on potential criminal fraud suspects identified through Operation Facial Scrub.

The AIRS website will serve as an enduring fraud prevention tool for government benefit providers and law enforcement even after the completion of Operation Facial Scrub (FS-12). Additionally, as a result of FS-12 and the daily scrub operations, the MVC now boasts a photo image repository that is free from this form of identity fraud. Finally, and most importantly, as FS-12 nears its completion the MVC has seen the rate of this type of attempted identity fraud drop to nearly zero.

Acting Attorney General Hoffman commended the attorneys and detectives who worked on the criminal investigations. They include Deputy Attorney General Jill Mayer, Chief of the Specialized Crimes Bureau, Deputy Attorney General Jacqueline Smith, Deputy Bureau Chief, Deputy Attorney General Paul Salvatoriello, Acting Deputy Bureau Chief, Assistant Attorney General Louise Lester, and Deputy Attorneys General Anthony Torntore, Debra Conrad, Lilianne Daniel, Mary Erin McAnally, Jeffrey Barile, Michael King, Brian Carney, John Paone, Martin Steiner and Valerie Noto of the Division of Criminal Justice Specialized Crimes Bureau; Detectives Cecil Boone, Franco Cignarella, Michael Duffield, Sean Egan, Christian Harden, Kelly Howard, Joseph McCray and Nicholas Olenick, and Civil Investigator Ruben Contreras of the Division of Criminal Justice Specialized Crimes Bureau, under the supervision of Lt. Bill Newsome; and the following Detectives from the 樱花视频 State Police: Sgt. 1st Class Douglas Adams, Sgt. Aaron Auclair, Sgt. 1st Class Enrique Bryan, Sgt. 1st Class James Carnival, Sgt. 1st Class Bryan Catterson, Sgt. 1st Class James Mitchell, Sgt. Jeovanny Rodriguez, Sgt. Keith Roslan and Sgt. 1st Class Wanda Stojanov, under the supervision of Lt. Stan Field of the Auto Unit. Acting Attorney General Hoffman also commended the clerical and professional staff in the DCJ Specialized Crimes Bureau who processed the cases.

Chief Administrator Martinez and Acting Attorney General Hoffman thanked the 樱花视频 Department of Homeland Security, the 樱花视频 State Police, all 21 County Prosecutors, the Office of Information Technology, all of the AIRS partners, the MVC Division of Security, Investigation & Internal Audit, and the various other internal divisions that assisted the MVC in implementing Operation Facial Scrub.