A federal grand jury is summoning traffic defendants to a July hearing to investigate a record-fixing scheme involving about 1,000 cases in the Orange County court system.

FBI agents on Friday handed grand jury subpoenas to traffic defendants called to appear before Superior Court Judge Thomas Borris at the Westminster courthouse.

Borris questioned dozens of people accused of violations whose records had been altered to make it appear charges had been dropped or reduced and that fines had been lowered when they had not. The judge sent the cases back to square one.

Two motorists told the Register they paid thousands of dollars to an unnamed person outside the court system who claimed to have a connection who could make the violations and fines go away.

David Hernandez, 35, of Santa Ana said outside the courthouse that he gave $8,000 cash, in an envelope, to “a guy” he met through one of his soccer buddies. The unnamed man claimed he knew someone inside the courthouse, said Hernandez, who faced his second DUI in 2014.

“Honestly, I was trying to avoid going to jail, you know?” said Hernandez, who also said he didn’t know the name of the man who came to his house to pick up the cash or the friend who referred him.

Borris reinstated the DUI charge against Hernandez and ordered him back to court on July 9.

Hernandez said this time he will hire a good lawyer.

“I threw (that money) in the trash, and I’m never getting that money back,” said Hernandez, who wore a rosary over his T-shirt.

Christopher Loeza told the Register he paid $1,500 to an acquaintance at a car rally in Santa Ana to handle a racing ticket about four years ago. The acquaintance, known only by a nickname, indicated he knew someone who could take care of the ticket, said Loeza, 24, of Santa Ana.

“I was freaking out. I’m going to lose my license,” said Loeza, who had other violations. “I gave him the money. I didn’t think he was going to burn me.”

Loeza said he thought everything was proper, and he already has paid about $600 to the court.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen,” he said Friday. “My record has been clean for two years.”

The FBI and Orange County District Attorney’s Office have teamed up to investigate the case-fixing allegations involving drunken driving and other traffic violations across the county.

The probe began in March, when the court’s administration discovered that a single clerk apparently altered about 1,000 misdemeanor traffic records starting in 2010, court counsel Jeff Wertheimer said this week.

The unidentified clerk no longer is employed by the county, and authorities are investigating cases that involve his employee ID number, Wertheimer said.

Defendants who appeared in court Friday were told by the FBI to report July 8 to the federal grand jury, which was probing “theft or bribery among programs using federal funds.”

Defense attorney Lorrie Walton said many of the defendants called back to court are immigrants who probably thought they were paying for legitimate representation.

“They don’t understand how the system works here, and they’re very susceptible to falling into a setup,” Walton said.

She was retained by three defendants after FBI agents showed up on their doorstep.

Most of the cases before Borris on Friday had been altered to indicate the defendants struck a plea deal while in Orange County Jail. Those defendants, however, said Friday they had never been in jail. The judge reinstated the charges against them.

Diego Carmona went to court Friday thinking he owed nothing on six or so traffic violations because the fines had been suspended. Carmona left with a $3,000 tab that Borris ordered to be paid after reversing the fake suspensions.

Antonio Zavala thought his 2014 DUI case had been reduced to reckless driving, which carries fewer penalties. But the judge rolled it back to DUI.

“What did they do with the group inside that got all this money?” Zavala said outside the courtroom. He would not elaborate on what money he was referring to or give more details about his case.

The judge gave defendants whose cases were reversed three options: Negotiate with the district attorney, negotiate with the judge or ask for an attorney. Many already had come with attorneys, who argued the proceedings violated the defendants’ right to remain silent.

“(They) should not be required to answer questions,” attorney Rudy Loewenstein said.

Borris replied that the court has the right to fix errors in the records.

Court officials said the doctored cases first were discovered when a courtroom clerk noticed a missing form in a DUI case while doing a routine docket check.

The clerk’s supervisor retrieved the employee ID of the person who previously had used the computerized file. Then the supervisor ran all the DUI records entered with that employee number. They found hundreds of discrepancies in the files, Wertheimer said.

“What we’ve now done is looked at every case he could have touched since day one,” he said.

Contact the writer: 714-796-6930 or tsaavedra@ocregister.com