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Former MVA employee indicted for conspiracy to illegally produce and transfer Maryland drivers' licenses and identification cards

BALTIMORE, - A federal grand jury indicted Tenisha Byrd, 25, of Edgewood, Maryland, today on charges of conspiracy to illegally produce and transfer Maryland drivers' licenses and identifications cards, announced United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein and Scot Rittenburg, special agent-in-charge U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Office of Investigations Baltimore. This was an ICE led investigation with assistance from the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration - Investigation and Security Services Division.

According to the four-count indictment, Byrd was an employee at the Glen Burnie branch of the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration and her duties included the issuance of Maryland drivers' licenses and Maryland identification cards. The indictment alleges that from September 2005 through April 2006 Byrd received money and services in return for arranging to illegally produce and transfer multiple Maryland identification cards and Maryland drivers' licenses. The indictment alleges that Byrd and other conspirators contacted prospective MVA identification document applicants by telephone, and then met with them at the Glen Burnie branch of the MVA in order to produce and transfer the fraudulent identification cards and drivers' licenses.

Byrd faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison for illegally producing and transferring Maryland drivers' licenses and identification cards, and a maximum of five years on the conspiracy charge. No court appearance has been scheduled.

An indictment is not a finding of guilt. An individual charged by indictment is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at some later criminal proceedings.