Former State Employee Sentenced to Federal Prison in Fraudulent Drivers License Scheme |
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U.S. Attorney’s Office
Western District of Texas
8 September 2016
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
In San Antonio today, 54-year-old Jose A. Ytuarte, a former Texas Department of Public Safety Customer Service Representative in Hondo, TX, was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison followed by two years of supervised release for his role in a scheme to provide fraudulent drivers’ licenses to undocumented aliens announced United States Attorney Richard L. Durbin, Jr., and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Special Agent in Charge Christopher Combs, San Antonio Division.
On March 31, 2016, Ytuarte pleaded guilty to one count of use of interstate communication facility in aid of unlawful activity--bribery. By pleading guilty, Ytuarte admitted that from May 2013 to July 2015, he accepted cash bribes from a co-conspirator in exchange for inputting materially fraudulent information, namely that the individual was born in the United States, into the DPS computer system in order to process and issue a driver’s license to an undocumented alien.
Ytuarte’s co-defendant, 45-year-old Azeez Mistry of San Antonio, is charged in the conspiracy count. He is also charged with three counts of transfer of false identification documents and one count of use of an interstate communication facility in aid of unlawful activity--bribery. According to the indictment in this case, Mistry would direct undocumented and documented aliens who could not get a driver’s license legally to Ytuarte. Mistry would charge between $1,000 and $5,000 for each license and then pay a portion of that fee to Ytuarte as a cash bribe.
Ytuarte remains on bond pending notification of facility designation by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons. Mistry, who is currently on bond, is scheduled for a re-arraignment hearing on Monday at 2:00pm before United States Magistrate Judge John W. Primomo.
This case was investigated by the FBI, Texas Rangers and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Assistant United States Attorney Christina Playton is prosecuting this case on behalf of the Government.
An indictment is merely a charge and should not be considered as evidence of guilt. Mistry is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.