Local News in Brief : Probation in Bribe Case
A former hearing officer for the state Department of Motor Vehicles has been sentenced to three years’ probation for accepting bribes from lawyers representing negligent drivers.
As a condition of his probation, Michael R. Tarrish, 47, of Artesia was ordered Tuesday by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Aurelio Munoz to cooperate with a state Bar investigation of several lawyers who Tarrish said bribed him.
Tarrish, who worked in the DMV’s Long Beach office, pleaded no contest last May to a charge of accepting bribes in 1986 from lawyers for negligent drivers who did not want to lose their licenses, Deputy Dist. Atty. Richard Healey said.
Tarrish told DMV investigators that the lawyers either loaned him money, took him to lunch or offered him other gifts, including fake smog certificates for his own vehicles. He said the loans and gifts were valued at about $2,000.
A 20-year veteran of the DMV, Tarrish was fired from his job as a principal driver safety referee in January.
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