Connecticut ping!
Please Freepmail me if you want on or off my infrequent Connecticut ping list.
Posted on 12/23/2006 7:11:21 AM PST by Graybeard58
BRIDGEPORT -- A Waterbury woman who worked as an examiner for state Department of Motor Vehicles has been convicted of participating in a scheme to sell hundreds of driver's licenses to illegal immigrants and felons.
Janette Rodriguez-Roman, 34, of 56 Diane Terrace in Waterbury, collapsed into sobs as the verdict was announced Thursday in Bridgeport Superior Court.
"Oh my God! Oh my God, my children, my children," she cried as marshals handcuffed her and led her away. Her lawyer said she has "four or five" children and was in process of adopting another.
Rodriguez-Roman was convicted of 38 counts, including violating the state Corrupt Organizations Racketeering Act and multiple counts of bribery, bribe receiving, conspiracy to commit bribe receiving and second-degree forgery.
She remains jailed on $400,000 bond. Her attorney, Robert Serafinowicz of New Haven, said she likely will appeal.
Rodriguez-Roman is the fifth former Bridgeport motor vehicles worker to be prosecuted in the scheme to sell thousands of illegal licenses, but the first to go to trial.
The other four have pleaded guilty and have been sentenced.
Serafinowicz said he believes the jury's decision was based more on fears of terrorists gaining licenses than hard evidence against his client.
He also attacked the credibility of the witnesses, noting one man had frequent run-ins with the law.
"I don't know how you would believe anything said by any of them beyond a reasonable doubt," Serafinowicz said.
Rodriguez-Roman faces up to 330 years in prison when she is sentenced Feb. 2.
The alleged ringleaders of the scheme, Venita Bines, of Bridgeport, and Tracy Stevenson-Lucas, of Stratford, are serving 7-year sentences.
Authorities said the defendants sold more than 1,500 licenses and nearly 1,000 Connecticut identification cards between June 2000 and December 2004. The state has recovered only a small portion of the licenses, authorities have said.
That's not the standard. Any particular witness does not need to be believed beyond a reasonable doubt, only your client's guilt.
How dare you quibble with an esteemed member of the bar and graduate of one of our distinguished Law Schools?
Conservative blonde, eh? I don't doubt it. But really what's a little adulation between friends?
BTTT
When this happened in New Jersey, the state responded to the crisis by tripling the ID requirements to get a driver's license. The state, and the press, did not want to dwell on the fact that agents of the state were making a mockery of process, nor did they want to draw attention to the minority status of the people who did it.
Being CiC somehow absolves this POLITICIAN from scrutiny and criticism for his FAILURE on other, vital issues (like the border and spending)?
the VOTE.
Sheeeeze, we gotta get this under control and it does NOT matter who gets "offended."
Belated thanks for the ping. Slowly catching up after the Christmas rush... ;-)
Connecticut ping!
Please Freepmail me if you want on or off my infrequent Connecticut ping list.
Gotta go w/ wormwood on this one. Any civilian can criticize the president. Criticism is only disrespect when acting in a military capacity, such as while wearing the uniform.
"Rodriguez-Roman faces up to 330 years in prison when she is sentenced Feb. 2.
The alleged ringleaders of the scheme, Venita Bines, of Bridgeport, and Tracy Stevenson-Lucas, of Stratford, are serving 7-year sentences."
OK, so the ringleaders get 7 year sentences, and the one participant who goes to trial faces up to 330 years? Shouldn't prosecutors be offering plea bargains to the lower-downs in the the organization in return for evidence helping them convict the leaders for lengthy terms?
Not meaning to be insulting, but that makes for the ultimate pro-Hillary! argument. Not only is she not a known cheater, but she has been cheated upon. By extension, she should be elected President based on the trumping of all else.
If I were on the jury, I'd convict her of every count. If I were the judge, I'd give her the maximum allowed sentence per convicted count and apply them consectutively if allowed by law. I have no sympathy whatsoever for her predicament. She asked for it..
My God? She should call on someone that knows her!!
She put herself, her children, and us in mortal danger.
Totally irrelevant for the purposes of this thread.
and this is evidence of why plea bargaining should be banned entirely, in all circumstances and forever.
If you have the evidence, then go to trial and if you do not, then set them free.
In this instance, I personally believe they should hang for treason given the circumstances under which they are selling ID papers, but there is certainly no justice in the "ringleader" serving 7 years and someone who chose to go trial receiving 330 years.... this is simply gross.
Believe me, she'll never vote for Hillary.
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