HILLSBORO (AP) — A man accused of helping thousands of illegal immigrants fraudulently obtain Oregon driver’s licenses will soon learn his fate from a Washington County judge.

Miguel F. Robleto, 47, is charged with racketeering, money laundering, forgery, tampering with public records, falsifying business records and other crimes. If found guilty, Robleto faces a sentence ranging from probation to 50 years in prison.

Judge Steven L. Price has said a verdict may not come until next week, but he will give attorneys a progress report on Tuesday.

The charges are related to a private driver-testing business that Robleto ran under contract from Oregon Driver and Motor Vehicle Services.

Twelve people have been arrested in the case, which federal immigration officials describe as the largest immigration fraud in Oregon. Eight have pleaded guilty and been sentenced.

Oregon allows illegal immigrants who can prove they live in the state to get driver’s licenses, but prosecutors say most of Robleto’s customers received licenses fraudulently because they lived elsewhere.

When one of Robleto’s employees was sentenced last month, Washington County Judge Mark Gardner said he was worried that illegally obtained Oregon driver’s licenses could be used by people who “engage in criminal enterprises and acts of terrorism against the United States.”

Jeff Lesowski, Washington County senior deputy district attorney, said there is no way to find those who got the licenses because their true identities are unknown.

“There are hundreds of people out there with valid Oregon driver’s licenses who should not have them, and it’s anybody’s guess what people are doing with those licenses.”

Robleto’s business gave driving tests under a DMV program that privatized the service. Drivers who passed could get an Oregon driver’s license at a DMV office. The DMV suspended the private testing program for drivers of passenger vehicles in late 2003.

Defense attorney Fred Nachtigal argued that prosecutors failed to prove Robleto knew applicants did not live in Oregon or what was going on in his business’s parking lot. Nachtigal also said DMV workers were responsible for preventing fraud, not Robleto.

Lesowski countered that Robleto is charged with aiding and abetting; he didn’t have to forge any names or addresses himself to be convicted. And, Lesowski said, just because nonresidents could defraud DMV doesn’t absolve Robleto, who signed forms indicating he checked for Oregon residency.