BUS DRIVER CONVICTED IN SCHEME TO SELL
STOLEN DAY PASSES

Maryland Attorney General J. Joseph Curran, Jr. announced today that a jury in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City has convicted Francisco Rivera, Jr., 53, of Theft more than $500 and Conspiracy to Commit Theft.

During the three day trial, the jury heard evidence that Rivera, a Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) bus driver, engaged in a scheme to illegally print day passes from his MTA bus and then sell those passes at a discount on the black market. Rivera, of Park Heights Avenue in Baltimore City, boarded his assigned bus ½ hour early on the morning of April 17, 2003, and printed out 334 day passes in 21 minutes prior to beginning his scheduled route. Detectives from the MTA Police observed Rivera hand a stack of passes to Leon Scott and Leroy Stevenson, the street-level sellers, while at a bus stop. Detectives followed Scott and Stevenson, and arrested them after observing them engage in two hand-to-hand transactions. MTA detectives recovered 313 MTA day passes valued at $939.00, and $277.00 in U.S. currency from Scott and Stevenson, and arrested Rivera thereafter. Scott and Stevenson entered guilty pleas at earlier proceedings. Sentencing for Rivera is scheduled for April 4, 2006, before Judge Roger Brown.

The case was investigated by the Maryland Transit Administration Police and prosecuted by the Office of the Attorney General, Criminal Investigations Division.