Three people were sentenced to prison Thursday, while a fourth got probation, for their roles in a bribery scheme in which more than $1 million in contracts at the University of Texas at San Antonio were rigged.

Chief U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia gave the longest sentence, 38 months, to James Paul Council, 44, a former project manager at UTSA who took bribes.

The judge also sentenced contractors Magin “Buddy” Villalon, 63, to 37 months and Alfredo Gonzalez, 51, to 22 months in prison for bribing Council.

Though the loss was calculated by UTSA and the government to be as high as $192,000, the trio were given credit for funds that were seized by the FBI or for contracts that were canceled. All three were ordered to pay $71,000 in restitution.

The judge also sentenced Villalon’s ex-wife, Sarah Ann Luna, 61, a former civilian employee for the San Antonio Police Department who played a lesser role in the scheme, to two years of probation and ordered her to pay $9,838 in restitution.

The punishment hearings capped off a case that began when a UTSA audit in 2012 found Council worked under the radar by taking advantage of loopholes in contracting rules at UTSA, where only projects greater than $25,000 required a formal, sealed bid process.

At the time, the rules allowed Council, in contracts of under $5,000, to ask any contractor if they could do the work within that amount. If the contract was between $5,000 and $25,000, Council drew up the scope of the work, took three contractor bids and selected a winner.

An FBI investigation found Council took $4,300 in bribes, primarily from Villalon, a project manager for Power Source Electric, and accepted about $11,000 worth of home improvements in exchange for steering contracts to PSE or a pair of sham companies formed as part of the scheme, FBI special agent Mike Carlisle testified.

The sham companies were used to make it appear there were competitors in the bidding process. Bids also were inflated, making UTSA pay more than necessary, the FBI and prosecutor Jim Blankinship argued.

PSE’s owner, Gonzalez, set up one of the sham companies, GNZ Enterprise LLC, in the name of his son.

Villalon conspired with Luna to set up the second sham company, Vista Contracting, so Villalon could make money, as well. On some contracts, PSE did the work for a settled amount that was less than what UTSA paid Vista.

Blankinship and Carlisle said Villalon, in essence, also was stealing from Gonzalez.

In all, 64 UTSA contracts for maintenance, construction and electrical work were found to be rigged, Carlisle testified.

“They knew before the contract went out who was going to get the work,” he said.

The defendants apologized for their actions, and their lawyers argued for leniency, saying all the work was done and that UTSA actually saved money.

Council admitted his role in the scheme in an interview with the Express-News in 2013. He said he accepted bribes to finance legal fees during a custody battle with his former wife.

Council told the judge he is reminded of UTSA around town, through projects he oversaw, and “I can’t even have a conversation about higher education with my children without feeling utter disgust with myself.”

Gonzalez’s lawyer, Louis D. Martinez, said his client failed to fire Villalon or report the matter “when he found out Mr. Council was being taken care of” and participated in the scheme.

“He didn’t, because it would have cost his business a lot of money and cost him future work,” Martinez said. “Fred regrets this.”

Villalon’s attorney, Joe Gamez, said the contracted jobs got done, adding, “This was not a case of a fly-by-night entity where someone took money and didn’t do the work.”

“It’s been a rough four and a half years,” Villalon told the judge. “I’ve been paying for it ever since and I’ll probably pay for it the rest of my life.”

gcontreras@express-news.net

Twitter: @gmaninfedland