A Brazilian national living in Connecticut was sentenced to nine months in federal prison for helping to obtain fraudulently driver’s licenses for more than 1,000 undocumented immigrants.
Helbert Costa Generoso, 41, who lived in Danbury, was sentenced last month by U.S. District Court Judge Margaret R. Guzman after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to unlawfully produce and possess with intent to transfer identification documents and one count of furnishing a false passport to another for use in June, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts.
Costa Generoso is subject to deportation after completing his federal sentence, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Costa Generoso was charged along with four others in December 2024. According to court records, from November 2020 through September 2024, Costa Generoso and his alleged co-conspirators reportedly procured driver’s licenses for undocumented immigrants who lived in states that prohibited them from obtaining driver’s licenses.
Costa Generoso and his alleged co-conspirators “conspired” to obtain New York driver’s licenses for undocumented immigrants who did not live in New York. After July 2023, they also reportedly “conspired” to obtain Massachusetts driver’s licenses for undocumented immigrants who did not live in Massachusetts, court records show.
“In exchange for fraudulently obtaining the driver’s licenses, the co-conspirators allegedly typically charged approximately $1,400 per customer,” officials said. “Costa Generoso also charged $1,400 to obtain fraudulent foreign passports in the customers’ names, to be used as identification in the driver’s license applications.”
Before obtaining a driver’s license in New York, applicants are required to pass a written permit test and complete a driver’s education course from a New York driving school. Online permit test takers are also required to take a picture of themselves with a web camera during the test.
To avoid having the undocumented immigrants take the permit tests, the co-conspirators allegedly obtained several pictures of them sitting down, making it look like they were taking the tests. They also allegedly took the permit tests for the undocumented immigrants and uploaded their photos when prompted during the tests.
“Costa Generoso and his alleged co-defendants also conspired to create fraudulent driver’s education certificates of completion, purportedly from New York driving schools, and conspired to forge the signatures of driving school staff on the fake certificates,” officials said.
“The NY DMV also required that applicants appear at a NY DMV location and provide documents to prove their identity and residence in New York. The co-conspirators allegedly conspired to meet Massachusetts-based customers at locations in Massachusetts — typically several customers at a time — and drive them to NY DMV branch locations,” according to court records.
“When they arrived at the NY DMV locations, the defendants allegedly gave the customers fraudulent documents falsely purporting to demonstrate that the customers resided in New York. The customers provided these fake records to the NY DMV staff, and the NY DMV relied on the misrepresentations to issue New York driving permits to the customers.
“The co-conspirators allegedly conspired to arrange for the NY DMV to mail the permits to locations in New York that were controlled by the defendants and provided the permits to the customers in-person,” court records show.
“The defendants then allegedly conspired to schedule road driving license tests for the customers with the NY DMV and, again, drive the customers to New York for them to take the road tests. If the customers passed the tests, the NY DMV sent the driver’s licenses to mailing addresses in New York that the defendants allegedly controlled, and the defendants then provided the licenses to the customers.”
The co-conspirators also allegedly obtained Massachusetts driver’s licenses for out-of-state residents generally in the same manner as the New York licenses, according to court records.
“Collectively, the co-conspirators allegedly fraudulently applied for licenses for more than 1,000 customers, obtained licenses for more than 600 of the customers and collected at least hundreds of thousands of dollars,” officials said.
Costa Generoso is the second defendant to plead guilty in the case. In September 2025, Cesar Agusto Martin Reis received a sentence of time served (290 days in prison) for his role in the conspiracy.