driver's license

November 7, 2013, Wilsonville, Ore. -- The Oregon Association of Nurseries will recognize six Oregon elected officials as "Friends of Nurseries" at its 2013 Convention, to be held Friday at The Oregon Garden resort in Silverton, Ore.

The six include three Republicans and three Democrats. They are Gov. John Kitzhaber (D), U.S. Rep Kurt Schrader (D-Oregon Fifth District), Oregon House Speaker Tina Kotek (D-Portland), State Sen. Bill Hansell (R-Pendleton), State Sen. Chuck Thomsen (R-Hood River), and State Rep. Cliff Bentz (R-Ontario).

"The Oregon nursery industry is the largest single segment in Oregon agriculture, with $745 million in sales in the most recent year that was tracked," OAN Executive Director Jeff Stone said. "Our association is more than 800 businesses strong, and all of them make a positive difference in Oregon's economy. That's why we wanted to give these public officials some much-deserved recognition. All of them have shown positive leadership, ensuring that Oregon remains a great place for nurseries to do business."

Gov. Kitzhaber was recognized for taking the lead on creating a new water supply fund for irrigation, natural resource protection and other uses. He was also recognized for putting together a task force that led to creation and passage of a four-year driver's card bill. Finally, Kitzhaber has maintained critical natural resource and extension funding at the state level, which the industry relies on for sharing knowledge and managing pest and disease threats.

Rep. Schrader has been consistent ally on the Farm Bill and comprehensive immigration reform. He has secured funding for research and pest and disease issues, and successfully pushed the USDA to rescind a discriminatory order that denied Oregon growers equal marketplace access. Schrader is currently serving on a House-Senate conference committee regarding the federal Farm Bill.

Speaker Kotek provided critical support so that the water supply bill and driver's card bill could move forward.

Sen. Hansell was a key figure in the passage of the water supply bill and also sponsored the driver's card bill.

Sen. Thomsen also sponsored the driver's card bill and provided critical support to help get it passed.

Rep. Bentz helped put together a compromise that moved the water supply bill forward when few thought it could pass. It ended up passing with just one dissenting vote between the two legislative chambers.

The awards will be announced at Friday's convention. At that convention, outgoing OAN President Carson Lord of Tree Frog Nursery (Silverton, Ore.) will pass the gavel to President-Elect Matt Gold, who will assume office. Gold and a 23-member board will guide the association's direction and priorities for 2014.

The Oregon Association of Nurseries, based in Wilsonville, represents more than 800 wholesale growers, retailers, landscapers and suppliers. Nursery products are the biggest sector in Oregon agriculture, with annual sales of $745 million in 2012. Oregon's nursery industry is a traded sector; nearly 75 percent of Oregon-grown nursery plants are shipped out of state. To learn more, visit www.oan.org or call 503-682-5089.

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Jose Calderon lined up the customers, charging them a few thousand bucks for the promise of authentic state IDs despite their illegal residency in the United States. Maria Cavallaro gave them what they sought, using her position at the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles to procure driver’s licenses, learner’s permits and identification cards for those she knew were not eligible for them.

Together, court filings show, the pair helped obtain documents for as many as 300 people — most of them illegal immigrants — and netted tens of thousands of dollars for themselves. On Wednesday, Cavallaro, 45, of Springfield, pleaded guilty to accepting bribes and Calderon, 42, of Sterling, pleaded guilty to a bribery conspiracy charge. Cavallaro’s attorney said afterward that his client felt sympathy for people unable to renew their driver’s licenses because of a law change in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

“She felt sorry for people,” said Neal Olesker, her attorney.

The pleas in a near-empty federal district courtroom in Alexandria mark the first time someone has accepted responsibility in the far-reaching conspiracy, which ran from 2007 into 2011. But it does not mark the end of the case. Calderon’s wife, Noemi Barboza, is scheduled to appear at a plea hearing Thursday, and court documents list an unnamed person who seems to have participated in the scheme but has not yet been charged.

The issue of whether to give driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants is increasingly being debated in state legislatures.

This year, Maryland passed a measure to create a sort of second-class driver’s license, which applicants could obtain without proof of lawful status, and the D.C. Council passed similar legislation Tuesday. Virginia, though, requires that one prove legal presence in the United States.

Calderon told a federal judge Wednesday that the scheme was “my idea,” but that it ran through Cavallaro, a former customer service representative and senior generalist at DMV customer service centers in Chantilly, Alexandria and Fairfax’s Fair Oaks Mall. According to court filings, Cavallaro would process and approve applications of those wanting driver’s licenses, learner’s permits or identification cards even though she knew the applicants could not prove legal presence in the United States.

Calderon, according to the filings, found the applicants and sometimes filled out the applications for them. Charging $2,000, $2,500 or $3,000 per person, he and Cavallaro netted at least $120,000 to split between them, court filings show. Calderon admitted that he brokered transactions for about 100 ineligible applicants, and Cavallaro admitted that another person sent her more than 200 ineligible applicants for illegal processing, court filings show.

A DMV spokeswoman said Cavallaro worked for the agency from 2005 to 2011 and referred other questions to the FBI. According to court records, Cavallaro was fired from the DMV in May 2011.

The DMV has had intermittent problems with employees selling driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants throughout the years.

The manager at a DMV office at Springfield Mall pleaded guilty in one such case in 2005.

Cavallaro faces a maximum of 10 years in prison, and Calderon faces a maximum of five. Both are scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 31.

  Read more about A scheme to get driver’s licenses and IDs for illegal immigrants, hatched in the Va. DMV

PROVO -- Ramiro Serrano-Hernandez was driving with an expired Utah driving privilege card early Sunday morning when he veered off the road and hit 22-year-old Ashlee Zimmer, according to police reports.

Zimmer was sitting on the curb next to a parked car at 844 N. 100 West at about 1:30 a.m. Sunday when Hernandez, who was driving north on 100 West, swerved across traffic, hit the parked car and then Zimmer. Zimmer later died from her injuries.

Hernandez had already been cited for intoxication and disorderly conduct Saturday night before he got behind the wheel of a friend's Jeep Grand Cherokee. Lt. Craig Martinez with the Orem Department of Public Safety said Hernandez was cited for the misdemeanors by the Lindon police, but wasn't arrested or taken into custody because he wasn't driving at the time. Hernandez was booked into the Utah County Jail on charges of automobile homicide, a second-degree felony; leaving the scene of the accident and driving with an expired license -- both misdemeanors.

During a court hearing Monday morning, Hernandez appeared before 4th District Judge Steven Hansen. Speaking through an interpreter, Hernandez said he has lived in the area for about four years and he works in construction to support himself.

Prosecutor Craig Johnson said Hernandez's case sticks out on the bail hearing calendar simply because of the death of Zimmer. He said Hernandez had already been deported once, in 2008. Johnson asked for $500,000 cash only bail, which Hansen granted.

Martinez said Hernandez fled the scene of the accident but was found a few blocks away hiding behind a garbage receptacle. According to police reports, a blood alcohol test administered more than two hours after the accident showed Hernandez had a blood alcohol level of .169, more than twice the legal limit. Police reports say another Breathalyzer test showed a .192 blood alcohol level, but that Hernandez was having difficulty providing a sufficient breath sample. A blood draw was also done on Hernandez but the results of that test are still being processed.

According to court documents, Hernandez told police he was going to a friend's house near 1200 N. 100 West and that when he turned onto 100 West, an oncoming car had its bright lights on, which Hernandez told officers caused him to lose control of his vehicle. Police reports indicate that Hernandez was arrested for DUI in August 2008 and Hernandez told officers that he was deported after that arrest. Police reports state that the arresting officers couldn't find a Utah criminal history with the ID Hernandez provided but could confirm he was deported in November 2008. Hernandez confirmed that he was arrested for DUI and then deported in 2008.

Hernandez has yet to be charged for the Sunday morning accident.

  Read more about Utah - Man arrested in DUI death held on $500,000 bail

After Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber (D) signed the law in May, Oregonians for Immigration Reform "gathered 71,000 signatures in just a few months to refer the measure to the November 2014 ballot," and it succeeded when just over 58,000 were determined to be valid by Oregon's Secretary of State.

As Judicial Watch notes, Oregon's Senate Bill 833 allows "special driver cards" to be given to illegal immigrants so long as they pass a driving test and prove they have been an Oregon resident for a year. It also allows the "Department of Motor Vehicle offices" to "accept foreign identification cards issued by the consulates of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Guatemala, Mexico and South Korea" so long as they are not expired.

Kitzhaber said the measure would allow illegal immigrants to "come out of the shadows" and “contribute to our economic recovery.”

Oregon is attempting to join California, Illinois, and ten other states that have passed laws granting licenses to illegal immigrants.

"If the results of the election reverse the legislation, DMV will cancel all work on the Driver Card program, but if the election upholds the legislation, we'll launch 30 days after the results are official," an administrator said. Read more about Oregon Voters Delay Law Giving Licenses to Illegals