We all want to know how to build that long lasting connection with our soul mate. Shared interests and hobbies have the potential to not only deepen relationships but also create lasting memories. As for interests and hobbies, Cheryl Huff and Mario Paz-Mejia are a match made in heaven. Their combined hobbies in fraud have created lifelong memories which will hopefully keep their bond strong while serving time in prison.
Huff was a District Manager for the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security (TDSHS) which issues Tennessee driver’s licenses and identification cards. Paz provided services for individuals who were neither citizens of the United States nor residents of Tennessee but who wanted to acquire a Tennessee driver’s license or identification card. A match made in heaven. Paz would procure false citizenship and residency documents required to obtain a Tennessee driver’s license. Including fraudulent lease agreements to establish proof of Tennessee residency, and false birth certificates, Social Security cards, and driver’s licenses from other states and U.S. territories to establish proof of citizenship or legal residency in the United States.
Once the documents were gathered, Paz arranged to meet his clients at a Knoxville-area DSC before business hours where he escorted his customers into the DSCs facilities through a backdoor employee-only entrance. Once Paz and his customers were inside, Huff initiated driver’s license applications using TDSHS software. Nothing like fraud to spark a relationship.
On May 23, 2024, Huff was sentenced to 37 months in prison. Paz was sentenced to 30 months in prison.
Great job by the United States Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Investigations.
Today’s Fraud of The Day is based on article “Former driver’s license boss and her husband sentenced after conspiring to make more than 100 fake driver’s licenses and ID cards” published by WBIR10 News on May 24, 2024.
Prosecutors said the couple sought out people who did not live in Tennessee and did not have U.S. citizenship, who wanted to get a form of identification. Two people, a married couple, were sentenced after prosecutors said they conspired to make and sell around 100 fake Tennessee driver’s licenses and identification cards.
According to a release, Cheryl Huff was sentenced to 37 months in prison followed by a year of supervised release. Her husband, Mario Paz-Mejia, was sentenced to 30 months in prison followed by a year of supervised release.
