Trucking news and briefs for Tuesday, July 12, 2022:
A San Antonio man formerly employed by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) was sentenced last week to two years in prison for his role in a commercial driver’s license bribery and fraud scheme.
According to court documents, from January 2017 until June 2019, Alonzo Blackman, 68, oversaw the issuance of CDLs. An investigation revealed Blackman did not administer the CDL skills test to applicants but passed them as if the test had been conducted.
Blackman issued 215 fraudulent CDLs and was paid approximately $1,000 per CDL. Bribes were paid to Blackman by two co-defendants, Fernando Guardado Vazquez, 43, of San Antonio, and Marino Maury Diaz-Leon, 55, a Cuban national living in San Antonio.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas, of the 215 fraudulent CDLs, 197 went to Cuban nationals; 11 to U.S. citizens; one to a Dominican Republic national; one to an Ethiopian national; one to an Iraqi national; one to a Puerto Rican national; one to a Ukrainian national; and two to Mexican nationals.
On Feb. 13, 2020, Blackman pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail and honest services fraud. In addition to the prison sentence, Blackman was ordered to pay a $215,000 money judgment.
Codefendant Diaz-Leon also was sentenced to one year and one day in prison. On May 26, 2021, Diaz-Leon pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail and honest services fraud.
