FBI nabs 7 in probe of driver's certificates

For the second time in six months, the FBI has uncovered what the agency alleges is a plot to bring illegal immigrants to Tennessee to get driver's certificates.

Seven people, including five alleged illegal immigrants, were arraigned Monday in U.S. District Court in connection with charges they were part of a conspiracy to take advantage of Tennessee's liberal licensing requirements.

In court records, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeff Theodore identified the accused ringleader of the group as Claudio Galvan.

Armando Rodriguez-Riveros was alleged to be Galvan's "regular driver," whose job was to ferry illegal immigrants to state Department of Safety testing centers in Tennessee.

The five remaining people named in criminal complaints - Nancy Zaida Patino-Moreno, Julian Cabellos-Galvan, Eloy Contreras Trejoy, Jose Juarez-Santos and Mario Eliseo Lopez-Guardado - are alleged customers of Galvan. All five are suspected to be illegal immigrants, according to FBI Agent Scott A. Wenger's complaints.

The alleged conspiracy mirrors one revealed in July that was based in New Jersey. Zeneida Concepcion Rivera has admitted ferrying illegal immigrants to Knoxville bimonthly over a nine-month period and, for a fee, furnishing them with documents as proof of Tennessee residency. She will be sentenced in that case later this month.

In both cases, FBI agents point to Tennessee's designation as one of only two states in the United States with a driver's certificate program as the draw for these plots.

Under the program, proof of legal U.S. residency is not required to get a certificate to drive. In Tennessee, motorists seeking a driver's certificate only have to show proof of residency in the state for the past 30 days.

In the latest alleged conspiracy, an unidentified "source" told Wenger that he or she was paid by Galvan to "collect mail" and "create other documentation to support" his customers' "claim of Tennessee residency."

Wenger alleged in his complaints that Galvan had been making weekly trips to East Tennessee, ferrying as many as eight people each trip, for the past two years. Galvan's fees to his illegal customers ranged from $1,500 to $800 for new driver's certificates and $250 for renewals, Wenger alleged.

According to the complaint, the "source" had help in establishing addresses for the illegal immigrants through "cooperating individuals in the community" who allowed "mail to be delivered to their residences in other individuals' names" in return for a "small fee."

Jamie Satterfield may be reached at 865-342-6308.

gee raybrr.. you are everywhere tonight .. no agenda there eh?

Who? Me or Bush?

My agenda is to reveal information that I recently found that shows that Bush's agenda is to hispanicize America. It always has been.

So. Here goes, just for you:

We are now one of the largest Spanish-speaking nations in the world. We're a major source of Latin music, journalism and culture.

Just go to Miami, or San Antonio, Los Angeles, Chicago or West New York, New Jersey ... and close your eyes and listen. You could just as easily be in Santo Domingo or Santiago, or San Miguel de Allende.

For years our nation has debated this change -- some have praised it and others have resented it. By nominating me, my party has made a choice to welcome the new America.

George Bush from a campaign speech in Miami, August 2000.

Bush's declaration of his agenda.

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