Two Queens school bus drivers were arrested today for fraudulently obtaining licenses as part of a state crackdown following a bus crash two weeks ago that killed 15 people, authorities said.
The drivers both had suspended licenses, but had gotten new ones from the DMV by using fake names and bogus social security numbers, according to the Queens DA’s office.
“The alleged failure of the defendants to be totally truthful with state authorities or their employers about the status of their driver’s licenses compromised the transportation safety of their passengers, some of whom were children,” said Queens DA Richard Brown.
“In light of recent events I want to thank Gov. Cuomo and the state Department of Motor Vehicles for their swift action which resulted in the arrest of the accused.”
George Gregory Gonsalves (who also used the name Gregory Gonsalves) and Emel Enrique Marin (also known as Carlos Lopez) were arrested this morning, authorities said.
Marin, who has been employed by the Little Linda Bus Company since June 2000, allegedly failed to indicate on his DMV application last month that he had changed his name, mailing address and the address where he resides, or that his license had been suspended since December 12, 2005, for failing to answer a summons and on March 10, 2006, for failing to pay a fine.
He also allegedly has two different dates of birth and two social security numbers on file with DMV, prosecutors said.
Gonsalves, who has been employed by Community Transportation System, failed to indicate on his application that he filed with DMV on November 1, 2010, that he had changed his name or that his license had been, in fact, suspended since January 11, 1996, for failing to pay a fine.
State records allegedly indicated that he also had two different dates of birth and two social security numbers on file with the DMV, prosecutors said.
Both men have been charged with offering a false instrument for filing and falsifying business records.
Marin has also been charged with endangering the welfare of a child and a violation of section 5111 of the vehicle and traffic law.
If convicted, both face up to four years in prison.
The arrests come as dozens of buses and drivers were yanked off the road after surprise weekend inspections found a shocking number of violations.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo had ordered the sweeping safety crackdown after the horrific March 12 bus crash on I-95 in The Bronx, which killed 15 people heading back to Chinatown from the Mohegan Sun casino in Connecticut.
Inspectors found that of the 26 buses and drivers pulled over at three Manhattan checkpoints, 16 had serious vehicle or driver violations and were taken out of service. That’s 62 percent of those inspected.
In all, 164 buses and drivers were inspected at 13 checkpoints throughout the state, and at least 41 were ordered off the road.
Ophadell Williams, 40, the Brooklyn driver involved in the horrific World Wide Tours bus crash on March 12, previously had his license suspended for allegedly using aliases when applying for a commercial driver’s license.
He also has a criminal record for manslaughter and grand larceny.