Two people involved in a scheme to pose as learner drivers and sit the theory test for others have been jailed at the Circuit Criminal Court.
Alina Glont, 42, from Charlestown Place, Finglas, Dublin 11, was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison after she pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy.
Daniel Stepien, 29, from Annfield Court, Clonsilla, Dublin 15, was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison for the same offences.
The offences took place on dates between September 2018 and June 2021. Dublin Circuit Criminal Court was told learner drivers paid between €1,000 and €2,000 to have the theory test taken for them.
Judge Martin Nolan said both had engaged in a serious profit-making criminal enterprise set up after a gap in the system was spotted.
The judge said it appeared those who availed of the service had no great understanding of the English language and wanted to get someone else to take the test for them.
Gardaí told the court the two accused were part of a group of five people involved in the scheme to take the theory tests on behalf of others using a computerised system at test centres.
The pass certificates were then used by others to apply for a driving test and 124 incidents involving the group were identified. Stepien sat 68 theory tests and Glont completed 20.
The Road Safety Authority (RSA) started its own investigation in January 2021, after receiving confidential information.
Thirty-six potential impersonations were reported to gardaí by the RSA the following June.
Glont's home was searched by gardaí and seven prepaid debit cards, registered with false names and addresses, were found.
These cards were used to book over 100 theory tests. Driver theory test books and sums of cash in sterling and euro were also recovered and Glont's phone was seized.
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When interviewed for a second time in 2023, she admitted her role and was cooperative with the investigation. She told gardaí she booked the tests and would direct Stepien to attend certain tests.
Stepien was also interviewed, but nothing of evidential value was obtained. The court heard evidence that he was directed by others and is considered by gardaí to be at the lowest rung of the hierarchy.
Detective Garda Barry McCormack said gardaí have suspicions about the other members of the group, but they are not before the courts.
Glont has five previous convictions including handling stolen property and use of a false instrument.
Stepien has 30 previous convictions including for deception, theft and road traffic offences.
In November 2022, he was jailed for three-and-a-half years after pleading guilty to making a demand with menace.
He and two other men blackmailed a teenager by threatening to disclose explicit photographs from her OnlyFans account to her family and friends if she did not hand over €10,000.
Stepien currently has an earliest release date of June 2025.
Det Gda McCormack agreed with Simon Matthews BL, defending Stepien, that his client was paid low amounts for his involvement, receiving €150 per test, and was at the lowest rung of the ladder.
It was further accepted that Stepien told gardaí he was struggling with gambling and substance addiction issues at the time and that it was clear that photos on theory test certificates were of the defendant.
Mr Matthews said his client accepts responsibility for his actions and has taken significant steps to rehabilitate while in custody. He asked the court to give Stepien a chance.
Det Gda Cormack accepted a suggestion from counsel representing Glont that her ex-partner is a person of interest in the investigation and that he left the jurisdiction around the time she was first arrested in 2021.
He also agreed that Glont has not come to garda attention since June 2021.
It was also accepted that Glont outlined that her ex-partner was violent and coercive when interviewed by gardaí for a second time in 2023.
Det Gda McCormack also agreed with counsel for Glont that Stepien told gardaí her ex-partner got him involved in the scheme and would not allow him to stop.
Counsel for Glont asked the court to "find truth in her assertions of violence and coercion" by her ex-partner.
He suggested her offending took place during a period when her ex-partner was "controlling her, she was offending on his behalf and under his control".
He submitted that her behaviour has been "strikingly different" since her ex-partner left the jurisdiction and she has "thrived", taking up work, setting up her own business and completing further education courses.
Several references were handed in to the court from Glont's family members along with her former workplace. She set up a chauffeur business after obtaining her PSV and bus driving licences and has two children.
Judge Nolan said he accepted to some degree that Glont was in an oppressive relationship and was somewhat under the control of her then partner.
He said her ex-partner was known to gardai and had disappeared but gardaí were looking for him.
However, he said she was an intelligent woman in her 30s at the time of the offences and had previous convictions for relevant, related type of offences and he had to impose a prison term.
"She involved herself in a very serious crime of conspiracy", the judge said adding that while he accepted to some degree the plea in mitigation of duress, if that was not there she would be going to prison for longer.
He said she had taken part in 20 of the tests but was at a higher level and was involved in the organisation of the criminal enterprise. He imposed a sentence of two-and-a-half years.
He said Stepien took part in 68 tests but he accepted he had a lesser part in the organisation and was paid around €150 for each test he took.
He imposed a sentence of 32 months.
