A former employee of the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) has pleaded guilty on federal charges of providing fraudulent Texas Driver Licenses to illegal aliens.
Jose A. Ytuarte, 54, pleaded guilty in a San Antonio federal court to one count of using an interstate facility in aid of an unlawful activity – bribery. Yturate admitted to accepting bribes in the form of cash payments from a co-conspirator in exchange for inputting “materially fraudulent information” into the DPS computer system, according to a statement from the Department of Justice obtained by Breitbart Texas. He confessed that he would input information that an illegal alien was, in fact, a person born in the United States in order to issue a Texas Driver License. In Texas, illegal aliens cannot obtain a license to drive.
In October, Ytuarte was charged with six counts as part of the scheme to issue licenses to illegal aliens, Breitbart Texas’ Lana Shadwick reported. The indictments covered a period of more than two years, from May 2013 to July 2015. The indictment revealed that his co-conspirator, Azeez Mistry, a 44-year-old San Antonio man, would allegedly charge the illegal alien between $1,000 and $5,000 for each license. He would then pay a portion of that fee as a bribe to Ytuarte, the indictment stated.
Mistry was also arrested on the charges. He still awaits trial on one charge of transferring false identification documents and four counts of use of an interstate communication facility in aid of unlawful activity. The illegal transactions were scheduled to take place during the lunch hour when other DPS employees were not around. Mistry is currently out of jail on a $25,000 bond.
The issuance of the illegal Driver Licenses took place at the DPS office in Hondo, Texas. Hondo is located about 45 miles west of San Antonio on U.S. Highway 90.
Ytuarte now faces up to five years in federal prison. He is scheduled for a sentencing hearing on July 13. If Mistry is convicted, he faces up to 15 years in federal prison.
This case was investigated by the Texas Rangers, agents from the FBI, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers.
In Oregon, illegal aliens are suing the state for the ability to legally obtain a driver license, Breitbart Texas’ Lana Shadwick reported. Familias En Accion and Los Ninos Cuentan and five illegal aliens are suing the Oregon Governor Kate Brown, numerous members of the Oregon Department of Transportation Commission, and the Administrator of the Driver and Motor Vehicles Division for the Oregon Department of Transportation, she wrote. The complaint was filed in early November.
In September 2015, Shadwick reported on another DPS employee, this one from San Antonio, who is also charged with accepting bribes to issue Driver Licenses to illegal aliens. Linda A. Perez was a public servant acting as a customer service representative in the DPS Driver License Division in San Antonio from January 1, 2012, to July 8, 2015, Shadwick wrote. Perez was charged with allegedly accepting $1,000-$2,000 bribes to issue Texas Driver Licenses to illegal aliens who did not legally qualify for those licenses.
Perez pleaded guilty in November 2015 and is awaiting sentencing which is scheduled for April, court records obtained by Breitbart Texas revealed.
Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior political news contributor for Breitbart Texas and is a member of the original Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX.
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