August 21, 2008
A former New York State Department of Motor Vehicles clerk admitted selling fake IDs to teens, pleading guilty to five felony counts after an investigation by the Inspector General and other state agencies.
Latasha Colbert, 24, of Buffalo, helped fake the identification cards for $50 for a 14-year-old runaway, a 19-year-old girl linked to a local escort service and others. The investigation was conducted by the New York State Inspector General's Office, DMV, the New York State Police and the Erie County Clerk. The teens sought the IDs so they could dance at a strip club or work at a local casino.
Colbert pleaded guilty to five counts of of bribe receiving in the third degree, class D felonies. She was arrested in January after an undercover operation in which she agreed to change a driver license birth date for $100, plus the $10 DMV fee.
“We are pleased that this investigation was able to end this behavior, particularly because it endangered children,” Inspector General Joseph Fisch said.
Colbert, a part-time employee at the Erie County Auto Bureau, was fired after the undercover operation. She will be sentenced Nov. 14.
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