Here is the whole story from the Denver Post yesterday (hat tip: Michael). This is a common practice in the ‘refugee’ community and a topic we have previously mentioned. Here is one post we wrote about Burmese refugees traveling to Colorado to get a drivers license.
I thought I could quickly get a mugshot of the chief scammer, but no luck. There are lots of stories on this case going back a couple of years, but no photos I could find quickly. I have to laugh, food stamp fraud stories are often illustrated with EBT cards and the only illustration I could fine for this story was this one with a driver’s license for a blond woman.
Denver Post (emphasis mine):
Two drivers who took driving tests from the operator of a Denver driving school who faces 20 years in prison for administering examinations under false pretense were later involved in fatal crashes, according to a document in U.S. District Court in Denver.
Both Tidenekiyalesh Ashenhafi W. Hawariyat, an RTD bus driver who ran a red light and struck a vehicle killing two in 2010, and Ali Aden, who ran head on into a car when he was driving the wrong way on Interstate 76 in 2009, were tested by Sikiru Fadeyi.
Fadeyi, who is scheduled to be sentenced on June 11, ran Ola’s Driving School on East Colfax Avenue. The state authorized the school to administer the written and driving-skills tests needed to get a license. [Gee, maybe the State of Colorado needs to revisit this practice.—ed]
Under questioning, Aden “revealed that he did not read, write or speak any English, it was clear that he would have been unable to pass a written examination that is only offered in English or Spanish,” according to the document.
Hawariyat passed all required examinations with Fadeyi in 2006 and later upgraded to a commercial license.
On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Christine M. Arguello sentenced two others in the scheme, Djibrill Sana, and Omar Masakira, with three and two years probation respectively. “These are just minions,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Mackey said.
Sana and Masakira acted as “brokers” to introduce people who wanted driver’s licenses to Fadeyi. Many were from Somalia and Ethiopia.
Prosecutors say Fadeyi charged applicants from $100 to $1,000 and then falsified the written and driving examination results.
Fadeyi has agreed to plead guilty to mail fraud and asked for a sentence less than federal guidelines call for, saying his behavior was a “misguided attempt to aid those in the local African community,“ according a document filed by prosecutors objecting to his motion.
“Defendant Fadeyi was misguided by putting on the streets and highways of Colorado, and other states, drivers who were unqualified. The defendant was misguided by not assisting disadvantaged African immigrants legitimately to pass written and driving tests. Defendant Fadeyi was misguided by putting the safety and well-being of legitimate Colorado and United States citizens and their family members in jeopardy,” according to the document.
One more thing, we learned this in the same AP article where we got the photo:
Federal prosecutor say 1,458 driver’s licenses tied to Fadeyi have been revoked.
Doesn’t it make you wonder how many of those phony driver’s licenses were used for Voter Registration?
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