LaFLAMME

PROVIDENCE — A federal jury yesterday found a former state Division of Motor Vehicles clerk guilty of conspiring to produce fraudulent Rhode Island licenses, some of which were sold for as much as $2,700 to illegal immigrants and accused criminals looking to hide their identities.

The jury of seven women and five men deliberated less than two hours before convicting Dolores Rodriguez LaFlamme of all 12 counts following a five-day trial in U.S. District Court in which prosecutors portrayed LaFlamme as a cunning manipulator motivated by greed.

Evidence, Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard W. Rose said in closing arguments yesterday, showed a direct correlation between the 35 fraudulent licenses LaFlamme produced and $24,500 in cash deposits made to her family’s bank accounts. “She was flush … and we know where it comes from,” he said.

In the end, it was the hundreds of pages of documents the government produced to make its case that persuaded jurors, said juror Lesley Elsdoerfer, a nurse from Warwick. “I found the evidence strong right from the get-go.”

Elsdoerfer said she believed the government’s witnesses and was particularly moved by Jose Bueno, who testified he obtained a fraudulent driver’s license for $2,300 after repeatedly being unable to pass the written test because of poor reading skills.

And she said she was struck by the “flat” demeanor of LaFlamme, who was the only witness to take the stand on her behalf and who sat impassively as the verdict was read. “She seemed emotionless.”

During the trial, Rose and Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard B. Myrus, assisted by state police Detective Matthew C. Moynihan, argued that LaFlamme used her position as a DMV clerk in Pawtucket to fraudulently produce 35 licenses. They contended, through the evidence, she sold the licenses through middlemen to customers seeking false licenses to conceal their identities, or because they couldn’t pass the written test.

LaFlamme, they said, produced the bogus licenses by manipulating the system for issuing licenses to people with existing licenses from other states. Such customers do not have to take the written or driving tests, but rather surrender their out-of-state license upon applying.

Prosecutors produced documents and testimony showing that drivers did not fill out applications or surrender licenses for the fake licenses issued by LaFlamme. In addition, an undercover informant told jurors he bought a fraudulent license while posing as a drug dealer who needed an alias.

The state police began investigating the DMV in 2006 after receiving a tip that a corrupt worker was giving out fraudulent Rhode Island licenses.

LaFlamme and Soraya Santiago, both DMV clerks at the time, were arrested last fall along with dozens of recipients of the bad licenses. Santiago testified against LaFlamme last week after reaching a plea deal with state prosecutors.

Throughout the trial, LaFlamme’s lawyer, Arthur Chatfield III, cast Santiago as the ringleader of the license scheme who set her former partner up to save herself. He argued in closing statements that if LaFlamme were truly the conniving perpetrator, as prosecutors claimed, why would she have left incriminating documents at her DMV station or brought a pocketbook containing a note linking her to the crime to state police barracks the day of her arrest.

LaFlamme, 41, of Providence, will appeal, Chatfield said. “I still believe she’s not guilty.”

Jurors found LaFlamme guilty of conspiracy to produce fraudulent identification documents, six counts of producing fraudulent IDs and five counts of aggravated identity theft. She faces up to 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for the conspiracy and document-production counts. Aggravated identity theft carries a penalty of two years’ imprisonment, consecutive to any other sentence imposed. Chief U.S. District Judge Mary M. Lisi scheduled sentencing for Feb. 20.

LaFlamme, a mother and activist in Providence’s Latino community, is being held by federal immigration authorities on an outstanding deportation order to the Dominican Republic.

Thomas Connell, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s office, said deportation proceedings would take place upon her release from prison. Chatfield said LaFlamme had rejected proposals that she plead guilty and face immediate deportation.

LaFlamme still faces state charges: 19 felony counts of identity fraud and 14 counts of conspiracy fraud. Michael J. Healey, spokesman for Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch, said it is unclear how the state will proceed following yesterday verdict, but that LaFlamme would probably be “prosecuted to the fullest.”

kmulvane@projo.com