PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - A former PennDOT driver’s license examiner has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for taking bribes in exchange for issuing driver’s licenses and identification.

Federal prosecutor Richard Zack says defendant Harold Palmer betrayed the public trust, sometimes for as little as $20 a license.

“The fact that he only took $2,000, that’s what he valued, that’s the value be put on his duty to keep the roads safe, $2,000. The fact he didn’t make a lot of money is irrelevant because what it shows, and there are many many cases that my office indicts and that show up in this courthouse, where people take a small amount of bribes to cause a huge problem.”

Zack says Palmer subjected the public to grave danger.

Despite conviction, Palmer told the judge he is an innocent man, and the cash payments were gifts.

Reported by Tony Hanson, KYW Newsradio