Ex-worker for DMV sentenced
A former Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles employee on Tuesday was sentenced to three years of probation after pleading guilty to bribery Nov. 30.
Marilyn D. Millender, 54, also will spend six months in a federal halfway house for her role in selling identification documents to illegal immigrants.
"Imagine a county commissioner taking a bribe for a zoning variance you don't want. You'd want him to get jail time," U.S. District Judge Robert Jones said. "This is particularly offensive because you were a person of trust in the government."
A federal grand jury indicted Millender in 2008 after an FBI and DMV investigation. The bribes occurred in the second half of 2007 after she had been on the job more than four years.
Jones did not accept probation officials' recommendation that sought only probation for Millender, saying he has sentenced to prison other defendants charged with identical crimes.
Jones said he sent a DMV employee to prison for more than six years. That worker had accepted more than $100,000 in bribes, and the DMV canceled hundreds of licenses and ID cards.
Millender by comparison collected less than $4,000, resulting in about eight cancellations. Jones was compassionate.
"I express my love for you," he said. "You are a particularly sympathetic defendant."
Millender traveled from Pittsburgh to attend the hearing. Jones accepted a suggestion from defense attorney Monique Kirtley, who asked that Millender be sentenced to a halfway house rather than a federal prison.
Kirtley noted Millender did not seek out a co-conspirator to sell the documents or set the price of the bribes. Millender didn't have a criminal record and hasn't been able to find a job since she was indicted in 2008.
"She's very remorseful," Kirtley said.
Jones gave the woman six months to surrender to a halfway house in the Pittsburgh area. He also issued a $1,000 fine. In exchange for her guilty plea, the government agreed to dismiss a charge of making false statements to the FBI when the investigation began.
Millender broke down when given the opportunity to address the court.
"I'm not sure how this happened," she said in a whisper. "I just want to get a job and start my life all over again."
Contact Doug McMurdo at dmcmurdo@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-8135.
