BOSTON - Yesterday, a Billerica man was sentenced in connection with bribing Registry of Motor Vehicle (RMV) clerks in exchange for false Massachusetts driver's licenses. Middlesex Superior Court Judge Hiller B. Zobel sentenced Michelet Joacine, age 38, to serve 19 to 20 years in State Prison and ordered him to pay a $10,000 fine. Joacine was convicted at trial in May but fled shortly before the jury returned its guilty verdict. He was arrested in June by State Police assigned to the Attorney General's Office and sentenced yesterday.

Michelet Joacine

In 2004, officials at the RMV contacted State Police assigned to the Attorney General's Office to report fraudulent activity by one of their clerks. State Police commenced an investigation into the allegations. Authorities found that Joacine recruited clients in need of driver's licenses and then directed them to RMV clerks within the Melrose RMV branch or the Cambridgeside Galleria satellite office. Joacine provided his clients with the forged documents necessary to obtain their licenses. Clients paid approximately $2,000 to $2,500 to Joacine, who in turn paid a portion of that money to the clerks. Authorities found that more than 100 licenses were unlawfully issued in exchange for bribes paid by Joacine.

On May 25, 2007, a Middlesex Superior Court jury deliberated for two hours prior to finding Joacine guilty of paying bribes (2 counts), and uttering false records (2 counts). Joacine, a native of Haiti, who had posted $40,000 bail, had attended the four previous days of trial before failing to appear in court on the final day of trial. Judge Zobel issued a default warrant for Joacine and ordered the trial to continue.

After his arrest in June, Middlesex Superior Court Judge Kenneth Fishman removed the default warrant against Joacine and ordered him held without bail. A criminal complaint then issued charging Joacine with failure to appear at trial.

Joacine began serving his sentence yesterday. Assistant Attorneys General Marc Jones and David Waterfall represented the Commonwealth in this matter.

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