SAN ANTONIO – A San Antonio man who issued 215 fraudulent commercial driver’s licenses for about $1,000 each while he worked for the Texas Department of Public Safety has been sentenced to prison.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Alonzo Blackman, 68, was sentenced to 24 months in prison on Wednesday for one count of conspiracy to commit mail and honest services fraud, a crime he pleaded guilty to in February 2020.
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Authorities said the bribes dated from January 2017 to June 2019.
During that time, authorities said, Blackman oversaw the issuance of CDLs from the Texas DPS. The licenses allow people to drive and operate large commercial vehicles or buses.
Drivers must pass written exams and skills tests, but Blackman did not administer the skills tests for 215 people, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release.
He still “passed them as if the test had been conducted,” the release states.
He was paid about $1,000 for each fraudulent CDL, authorities said. The bribes were paid through co-defendants Fernando Guardado Vazquez, 43, of San Antonio, and Marino Maury Diaz- Leon, 55, a Cuban national living in San Antonio, the release states.
Both men have also pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail and honest services fraud.
Diaz-Leon was sentenced on Thursday to 12 months and one day in prison, and Vazquez is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 10.
In addition to prison time for Blackman, he was also ordered to pay a $215,000 money judgment.
“This case represents an appalling breach of public trust and safety,” U.S. Attorney Ashley C. Hoff said in the release. “Our office will continue to work with the FBI and our other law enforcement partners to hold corrupt officials and those who conspire with them accountable for their criminal actions.”
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