By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

LAPLACE – Louisiana State Police arrested a Reserve woman for allegedly taking bribes while working at the Reserve branch of the Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles, according to a spokesperson from State Police Troop B.

Trooper Melissa Matey, public affairs representative for State Police, said Charliette Rousseve, 28, was arrested at the office Thursday by members of the State Police Bureau of Investigations. Matey said Rousseve was charged with malfeasance in office and jailed at the Sherman Walker Correctional Facility in LaPlace.

According to a release from State Police, authorities have been investigating Roussel since October 2009, when an anonymous tip revealed someone at the Reserve Office of Motor Vehicles was taking bribes. State Police investigators determined that Rousseve had been accepting cash bribes in exchange for giving applicants passing scores on written tests for driver’s licenses. Matey said that Rousseve had been giving the applicants enough answers to pass the written exam.

Investigators determined that over a six-month span, from January 2008 to July 2008, Rousseve had handled 600 applicants and received bribes from at least five of those applicants. Matey said each time Rousseve had taken $100 cash in exchange for the answers.

Capt. Dane Clement, public information officer for the St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office, said Rousseve was released Friday after posting a $6,500 bond.