Ex-DPS worker sentenced for selling driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants

By Guillermo Contreras
Updated 3:42 pm, Thursday, July 21, 2016



Photo: Billy Calzada, Staff / San Antonio Express-News

Linda Ann Perez, 47, a former clerk with the Texas Department of Public Safety, leaves the federal courthouse with her attorney, Luis Vera, on Tuesday, November 3, 2015. She pleaded guilty to use of interstate ... more



A former employee of the Texas Department of Public Safety in San Antonio was sentenced Thursday to 35 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $215,000 for taking bribes to issue driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants.

Chief U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia issued the sentence to Linda Ann Perez, 47, who was a customer service representative at the driver’s license office on South Gen. McMullen Drive. She pleaded guilty in November to using an interstate facility in illegal activity, and admitted that she issued roughly 150 driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants who paid $1,000 to $2,000 a pop.

Her lawyer, Luis Vera Jr., said after Thursday’s hearing that Perez might be able to shave time off her sentence with good time credit because she qualifies to enroll in a drug treatment program while in prison.

“She still has to pay back all that money,” Vera said.

According to prosecutors and court records, the bribes were generally delivered to her office counter in brown paper bags carrying food.

DPS discovered the illegal activity in spring 2015 and referred it to Homeland Security Investigations, which worked with Texas Rangers on the case.

Homeland Security officials have expressed concern about Perez’s actions, saying the people who received the licenses were not vetted, and the officials surmised some could possibly “do our country harm.” Officials said a handful of the immigrants were tracked down, but others couldn’t be because they might not have provided their real names.

But Vera downplayed that, saying they were simply immigrants trying to work.

Perez, who worked for DPS for eight years, told investigators that she first altered an expired license for $500 as a favor for an acquaintance. For the others, Perez falsely claimed in the state’s computer system that they were U.S. citizens. The scheme netted Perez “conservatively” $215,000 in bribes, her plea deal said.

gcontreras@express-news.net

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