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HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A former Pennsylvania Department of Transportation employee accused by authorities of charging immigrants up to $350 to help them pass the knowledge test and eventually get driver’s licenses said Wednesday. that he wants to help them.
Angelo Carrion, 66, charged the immigrants with providing them with correct answers in order to obtain study permits and eventually secure their licenses, according to the affidavit. He also submitted incomplete applications or applications that were not verified for immigration status or citizenship, charging documents state.
Carrion was charged with 17 felony counts of bribery in official matters, one felony count each of theft by deception and criminal use of a communications facility and 17 felony plus 35 felony counts of tampering with public records or information, Pennsylvania State Police said Wednesday.
Carrion also allegedly would give his personal cell phone number to Spanish-speaking PennDOT customers so they could make appointments, check their license status or for referrals, according to the affidavit.
Police said everyone in the investigation was in the country legally and eligible for licenses.
Reached by phone Wednesday, Carrion said he plans to not run, even though “I felt like 90 percent of these allegations were baseless, without merit,” he said.
He said he assisted “certain individuals” who did not speak the type of Spanish that appeared on the test.
“That was my motive, to help them,” he said.
Carrion said he does not currently have an attorney and is waiting to see if he will qualify for a public defender.
Carrion was employed at two driver’s license centers in Lancaster County, where he worked as an assistant driver’s license examiner since 2019; he resigned in April after an internal investigation found irregularities with 268 licenses or identification cards Carrion allegedly processed between October 2021 and March 2022, according to the affidavit.
Police interviewed 35 of the applicants Carrion suspected of rigging tests or failing to verify their immigration status, the affidavit said. In interviews with clients, most identified as Hispanic in the affidavit, some had failed the knowledge test as many as 13 times before Carrion administered the test.
Police said many of Carrion’s customers were required to be retested, and many failed the retesting process.
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