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BROCKTON, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — Two people have agreed to plead guilty to knowingly passing people taking RMV tests who did not actually pass at the Registry of Motor Vehicles in Brockton.
43-year-old Mia Cox-Johnson and 61-year-old Estevao Semedo of Brockton are pleading guilty in separate conspiracies of passing people taking written and road driving tests at the RMV in exchange for money, the U.S. Attorney's Office District of Massachusetts said.
Cox-Johnson, former manager of the Brockton RMV Service Center, accepted money in exchange for passing scores on learner's permit tests to passenger vehicles and commercial driving license tests. She allegedly told customers to request a paper test instead of taking the multiple-choic e learner's permit test on the RMV computer. Cox-Johnson scored the customer's paper tests, giving them passing scores in exchange for money, according to charging documents said the U.S. Attorney's Office.
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In December 2018, Cox-Johnson accepted $1,000 in cash to pass someone's relative who had failed the passenger vehicle learner's permit test six times. Officials found that she had agreed to pass them regardless of if they passed or failed the exam. In October 2019, Cox-Johnson accepted $200 in cash to pass someone taking three multiple-choice tests in order to take a road test for a commercial learner's permit. The applicant failed one of the three tests, but Cox-Johnson scored the tests to make them pass all three.
Semedo, the owner of a driving school, conspired to "defraud the RMV" by issuing driver's licenses to people who had not actually passed the road test, charging documents showed, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Semedo paid a road test examiner at the Brockton RMV to pass some people taking road tests whether or not they actually passed. The U.S. Attorney's Office said some applicants who received driver's licenses didn't even show up to take the test.
Both Cox-Johnson and Semedo plead guilty to the conspiracy and extortion charges against them. Plea hearings have not yet been scheduled at this time.
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