Plea deal reached in license scam

By KEVIN GRAHAM, Times Staff Writer
Published November 7, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT Deisy Oropesa, 31, was arrested last year on 174 counts of unlawful compensation for official misconduct and driver's license fraud.

TAMPA - A former employee in the Hillsborough County Tax Collector's Office is expected to plead guilty today to charges of conspiracy, fraud and theft for selling drivers' licenses to people without proper documentation.

Authorities arrested Deisy Oropesa, 31, last November, saying she was part of a scheme to peddle drivers' licenses to illegal immigrants for $200 apiece. She told investigators that she pocketed more than $25,000 from the transactions.

Oropesa filed a plea agreement Tuesday and is scheduled for a hearing today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Mary Scriven.

Oropesa worked in the driver's license section at the Tax Collector's Office on Waters Avenue. Tax officials began noticing problems with her transactions and contacted the Florida Highway Patrol.

Federal court documents said she participated in the scheme from about February through November 2006.

She resigned just before her arrest on 174 counts of unlawful compensation for official misconduct and driver's license fraud.

Oropesa is facing a maximum of five years for the conspiracy charge and a maximum of 20 years for each of three counts of wire fraud and theft.

According to Oropesa's plea agreement, federal prosecutors plan to ask a judge to sentence her at the low end of the sentencing guidelines.

The judge has the final say on her prison time.

[Last modified November 6, 2007, 23:03:58]