A former public notary has pleaded guilty to fraudulently obtaining hundreds of New Mexico driver's licenses for people living outside the country.
Federal prosecutors say 38-year-old Veronica Diaz, of Portales, pleaded guilty to 12 counts of forgery, 32 counts of conspiracy to alteration or forgery of a driver's license and three counts of false evidence of title or registration.
A judge suspended her 70-year prison sentence and placed her on five years of supervised probation after Diaz agreed to testify against the alleged leaders of the driver's license fraud ring.
Authorities say the $30,000 per month operation also included human traffickers and mail collectors.
They say Diaz signed false affidavits to obtain New Mexico driver's licenses for foreign nationals from Mexico, El Salvador, Brazil, Guatemala, Uruguay and Honduras.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.