But District Court of Guam Chief Judge Frances Tydingco-Gatewood ordered that Palacios self-surrender by 2 p.m., following her sentencing hearing, which was held virtually on Wednesday.
Palacios was sentenced to five months in prison after she admitted she conspired to commit fraud in a driver’s license scam in 2015.
“I would like to apologize to my family, to the court, to the Department of Revenue and Taxation, to the community and all affected by my actions. There is no excuse for what I’ve done,” Palacios said, as she told the court that she, along with her now-deceased husband, had been going through medical and financial hardships at the time.
Defense attorney Peter Perez asked that Palacios either be given probation or home confinement.
“It happened (at) a time when her judgment was not at her best,” said Perez. “She is not a danger to the community and has no criminal history. She’s accepted responsibility and has been remorseful about her conduct.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Leon Guerrero said, “She didn’t think she would ever get caught. She was very methodical with these driver’s licenses to make a profit.”
While it’s the defendant’s first time in the federal court, said Judge Tydingco-Gatewood, Palacios committed “a serious crime.”
“You issued at least 75 Guam driver’s licenses to individuals in exchange for their out-of-state driver’s licenses…. When you were approached by the officers, you denied any involvement in the scheme. It wasn’t until Oct. 23, 2015, that you then changed your mind and recanted your statement,” the judge told Palacios.
“You were approached by Lourdes Blas, who asked if you have ever given our driver’s licenses illegally. The two of you then started this scheme…and received $250 for every application you processed. That makes our streets very unsafe to have these individuals with these fraudulent driver’s licenses and driving out on the roads of Guam.”
The court denied her request for leniency after probation reported that Palacios tested positive for methamphetamine up to 14 times. Palacios denied using meth, and contends the test results had been skewed by her prescription medication.
Palacios will serve three years of supervised release after she is released from prison in five months, and she must pay $5,625 in restitution.
She asked the court to consider her health in light of the pandemic.
“That’s my issue. It’s my health,” Palacios said. “But if you are not going to consider that, then I guess it would be better to serve here on Guam.”
A judicial recommendation was made for Palacios to serve her sentence in the Department of Corrections Women’s Facility in Mangilao.
She was also ordered to write a letter of apology to the director of Rev and Tax within the next two months.
Palacios, who worked as a driver’s license examiner at Rev and Tax, pleaded guilty to unauthorized access of a protected computer in furtherance of fraud.
According to court documents, Palacios was accused of receiving approximately 75 completed driver’s license applications from Lourdes Blas in exchange for $200 to $250 per application.
She accessed the agency’s Motor Vehicle Division to fraudulently input information contained in the applications.
Palacios and Blas were arrested in connection with a corruption case in 2015. They issued licenses without going through the required processes, Post files state.
In 2019, Blas pleaded guilty to the information that charged her with unauthorized access of a protected computer in furtherance of fraud.
