Former Utah state employee charged in drivers license scam

A former Utah Driver License Division employee has been charged with issuing fraudulent driver licenses to undocumented immigrants.

Evevia Nez, 47, of Kearns, was charged Thursday in 3rd District Court with four counts of receiving or soliciting a bribe, all third-degree felonies. She issued more than 50 licenses in 2008 and 2009, according to court documents.

The undocumented immigrants paid a co-defendant in the case, Pablino Gómez-Plancarte, $1,500 for help obtaining the licenses, according to court documents. Gómez-Plancarte would then take them to a DMV location where Nez took their photographs and issued the licenses, the charges state. The woman received $150 for each license, according to court documents.

Nez told investigators she issued the licenses in 2008 and 2009 but stopped the next year when new regulations required her to scan in identification documents, the charges state.

The alleged scheme was uncovered when an officer in Kansas stopped a carload of people in February of last year. While their licenses checked out, a fingerprint check showed the names of the people were not the names on the licenses, according to the charges.

Warrants have been issued for both Nez and Gómez-Plancarte, court records show.

afalk@sltrib.com