Ex-DMV Manager In Lincoln Park Pleads Guilty In Bribery Scheme
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — The former manager of a DMV branch in Lincoln Park pleaded guilty Monday to federal charges of taking bribes in exchange for providing driver's licenses, part of a larger DMV bribery scheme in Los Angeles County, authorities said.
Forty-four-year-old Jovana Nettles of Norwalk pleaded guilty Monday in federal court in U.S. District Court in downtown L.A. to one count of mail fraud, admitting she accepted cash bribes to illegally issue permits and driver's licenses to otherwise ineligible applicants.
Nettles received bribes in exchange for providing driver's licenses to people who could not otherwise pass their driving exams, prosecutors said.
Nettles admitted to fraudulently entering passing scores for applicants without that person actually taking or passing the necessary tests, according to a plea agreement filed in federal court.
The alleged leader of the scheme, Antanacio Villegas, a former DMV license registration examiner in Torrance and Gardena, is expected to plead guilty to a federal fraud charge on June 21.
Nettles "was part of a conspiracy involving corrupt DMV employees and brokers," prosecutors wrote in the plea agreement.
The scheme involved someone who would enter passing scores on the required tests and someone further up the chain who would enter the fraudulent information into the DMV database, the agreement states.
(© Copyright 2021 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. City News Service contributed to this report.)
