SACRAMENTO - Mangal Gill, 58, of San Ramon, pleaded guilty today to two counts of conspiracy to commit bribery and identity fraud, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced. According to court documents, Gill owned Central Truck Driving School, which had locations in Fremont, Lathrop, Fresno, and Salinas. Between April 2012 and April 2015, Gill conspired with employees of the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and others to fraudulently obtain commercial driver’s licenses (CDL) for Gill’s truck school students and others who did not take or pass the written or the behind-the-wheel driving examinations.
Gill received money from those wishing to obtain a CDL and, in turn, paid money to the DMV employees, who would access the DMV’s database to alter records indicating that the individuals had passed tests when, in fact, they had not passed them or, in some instances, taken any examination at all. As a result, individuals were able to obtain driver’s licenses, including commercial licenses to operate tractor-trailer trucks, without having taken and passed the requisite written or behind-the-wheel driving tests.
This case is the product of a series of ongoing investigations by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the California DMV, Office of Internal Affairs. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Todd A. Pickles and Rosanne Rust are prosecuting the case.
Co-defendant Andrew Kimura, a DMV employee, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery and identity fraud and was sentenced to three years and 10 months in prison. Emma Klem, another DMV employee, and Kulwinder Dosanjh Singh, a broker, also previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery and identity fraud as part of the same investigation in United States v. Klem, 2:15-cr-00139 GEB, and United States v. Kulwinder Dosanjh, 2:15-cr-00146 GEB, respectively. They are awaiting sentencing.
Trial has been set for co-defendants Pavittar Dosangh Singh and Robert Turchin for June 19, 2018. The charges against them are only allegations; these defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Gill is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Garland E. Burrell Jr. on July 13, 2018. Gill faces a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,00 fine. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.
