SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Jaswinder Singh, 60, of Los Angeles, was sentenced today to serve a nine-month prison sentence and to pay a $7,500 fine for attempting to obstruct an official proceeding, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.
According to court documents, Singh contacted a trial witness in a pending federal criminal case and instructed the witness to lie to law enforcement as a trial date approached. The witness knew that Singh and others had participated in a conspiracy to bribe a DMV official to fraudulently obtain California commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) for numerous drivers who did not want to take (or could not pass) the necessary tests. Nevertheless, Singh instructed the witness to falsely tell law enforcement the witness knew nothing, not to mention anything about Singh or Singh’s participation in the conspiracy, and not to name any names. Singh also told the witness not to talk on the phone and that it was very important for them to make sure their stories were similar to one another. On another occasion, Singh himself provided false statements about his knowledge and his role to law enforcement while the conspiracy was under investigation.
This case was the product of an investigation by the California Department of Motor Vehicles, Office of Internal Affairs, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rosanne L. Rust and Christopher Hales prosecuted the case.