Osceola tax collector's office worker gets 2 years in driver's license scheme

OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. — A man caught handing out more than 200 fake driver's licenses will spend the next two years in prison.

Investigators said Walter Brown catered to people trying to hide their identities, but he was sentenced Tuesday to the least amount of time in prison allowed by federal law, according to Channel 9's Jorge Estevez.

"Everybody makes mistakes and we learn from it," said Brown. "A mistake is a mistake whether you walk into federal court or not."

Brown, of Kissimmee, was charged with aggravated identify theft after he was caught issuing driver's licenses for customers who would knowingly provide fraudulent information in order to get a government-issued ID.

"It was a stupid decision. It was stupid," Brown said.

Surveillance cameras caught customers as they bypassed regular lines and headed directly to Brown's station inside the Osceola County tax collector's office, where his main job was to issue driver's licenses and IDs.

For that offense, Brown was sentenced to the minimum mandatory time of just two years out of a possible 15.

"I apologized for misusing the community's trust. I made a mistake and I have to learn from it," Brown told Channel 9.

The court took into account Brown's cooperation.  With his help, the state's attorney's office was able to charge six other people in connection with the identity theft ring.

WFTV