Woman sentenced in driver's license scam

By Times Staff Writer
Published January 23, 2008

TAMPA

A former Hillsborough County tax collector employee will spend two years and three months in federal prison for selling drivers' licenses to people without proper documentation, a judge ordered Tuesday.

Deisy Oropesa, 31, of Tampa, whose last name also shows up in court records as Oropesa-Hernandez, admitted to the crime in November when she signed an agreement to plead guilty.

Authorities arrested Oropesa in August and accused her of peddling drivers' licenses to illegal immigrants for $200 each. She told investigators she pocketed more than $25,000 from the scam.

ODESSA

Ex-chief of staff leads kids' surgery center

Pasco parents whose children need anything from ear tubes to a tonsillectomy will soon have a new close-to-home option.

Pediatric Surgery Centers, headed by a former chief of staff at All Children's Hospital, is expected to open as early as June.

The $4.3-million, 18,000-square-foot outpatient surgical facility will be off State Road 54, just east of Gunn Highway.

The centers are not affiliated with a hospital or university, but are owned by a group of investors and doctors, including medical director Dr. Glenn Vaughn, who served as chief of staff at All Children's from 2001 to 2003.

[Last modified January 22, 2008, 23:35:58]