14 DAY TRIAL // A woman counterfeiting driver's licenses and identification documentation for illegal immigrants has been found guilty and sentenced to spend several holidays in jail.
According to The Columbus Dispatch, 44-year-old Betina Young of Bancroft Street in the Linden area, was given probation on charges of tempering with public records.
However, she has to return to jail for a minimum of three years during her five-year probation time.
She pleaded guilty in Franklin County Common Pleas Court to issuing fake ID cards and driver’s licenses to foreign nationals.
She was able to do so because she was employed as a clerk at the deputy registrar’s office in Gahanna for seven years.
Judge Michael J. Holbrook imposed the unusual penalty and fined Young with $3,000 (€2,280). She was convicted by Holbrook on five counts.
According to Assistant Prosecutor Kimberly Bond, if she violates the terms of her parole and she doesn't turn herself in to jail for the “Holbrook holidays” she risks going to prison for 15 years.
During her time at the registrar's office, Young issued roughly 95 fraudulent licenses and IDs, a spokesperson for the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles.
The probation department is yet to determine how many days she will be spending in prison on Christmas time.
Young would find clients with the help of Sekou Kpoto, who has been accused of facilitating the deals.
42-year-old Sekou Kpoto of Possum Run Court W. on the Northeast Side would bring illegal immigrants to Young.
Kpoto would even drive them to the Gahanna agency, upon asking for payment for the falsified documents. Each item of paperwork would cost $700 to $1,500 (€532 - €1,140).
Kpoto is expecting a trial date on Tuesday. As a middleman, he also stands to be charged with five counts of tampering with records.