HOUSTON - The last of three former Houston Police officers embroiled in a ticket-rigging scandal the 11 News I-Team exposed pleaded guilty to felony charges Thursday.
Robert Manzanales, 48, admitted to tampering with a government record and aggravated perjury. The charges carried a maximum ten years in prison and $10,000 fine, but Harris County District Court Judge Michael McSpadden spared the former veteran officer jail time. He sentenced Manzanales to three years deferred adjudication, a form of probation, and 120 hours community service.
Last August, the I-Team had revealed Manzanales was one of four officers who routinely listed each other as "witnesses" on speeding tickets, when records showed they were writing tickets at the same exact time at another location, often miles away. The apparent motivation for falsifying tickets was to later collect more court overtime.
As part of the plea deal, Manzanales must also pay a $500 fine and most importantly, surrender his state law enforcement license. That prohibits the former 22-year HPD veteran from ever becoming a police officer in the State of Texas again.
"Robert has wanted to get this behind him, he's wanted to get this behind him, glad to do it, and is going to move on with his life from here," defense attorney Scott Siscoe said.
Two other former HPD officers involved in the scandal, Gregory Rosa and John Garcia, pleaded guilty to felony charges earlier this year. Another officer, Rudolph Farias, committed suicide last August after learning he was under internal investigation.
