Former DPS employee sentenced to 2 years in prison for role in CDL scheme

SAN ANTONIO, Texas - A former Texas Department of Public Safety employee has been sentenced to two years in prison for his role in a commercial driver's license (CDL) bribery and fraud scheme.

68-year-old Alonzo Blackman of San Antonio pled guilty in February 2020 to one count of conspiracy to commit mail and honest services fraud in connection to the scheme. He has also been ordered to pay a $215,000 money judgment.

According to court documents, between January 2017 and June 2019, Blackman was an employee with Texas DPS and oversaw the issuance of CDLs, which permit the holder to drive and operate large commercial vehicles and buses. In Texas, applicants must pass a written exam and a skills test in order to obtain a CDL.

An investigation revealed that Blackman had not administered the skills tests to applicants, but passed them as if the test had been conducted, says the US Attorney's Office. Blackman had issued 215 fraudulent CDLs and was paid approximately $1,000 for each one.

Two co-defendants in the case also received bribes: 43-year-old Fernando Guardado Vasquez of San Antonio and 55-year-old Marino Maury Diaz-Leon, a Cuban national living in San Antonio. Both Vazquez and Diaz-Leon pled guilty to one count each of conspiracy to commit mail and honest services fraud.

Diaz-Leon was sentenced to a year and a day in prison. Vazquez is scheduled to be sentenced in August.

According to the US Attorney's Office, 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.