SAN DIEGO (CN) - A manager of a DMV station was arrested Monday and charged with leading a criminal ring that took more than $100,000 to issue driver's licenses to people who failed exams or never took them.
Jesse Mario Bryan, 36, who supervised DMV examiners at El Cajon, took bribes of $75 to $600 per license, the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a statement.
Eight people were charged with him, seven for paying bribes and one for recruiting people to pay them.
Bryan allegedly handed out commercial Class A licenses for bribes too, which created an "obvious public safety risk," the U.S. attorney said. Those cost a bribe of $2,500 to $3,000, just for the recruiter, prosecutors said.
Alexander Gonzalez, 43, is accused of being the recruiter.
Conspiracy to commit bribery and to produce unauthorized identification documents is punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
Twenty-one defendants, including four DMV officials, were charged in a similar case in May 2012.
El Cajon is east of San Diego.
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