Between 1999 and 2017, Beam Brothers Trucking allegedly defrauded the government and its drivers out of millions of dollars. That led to a total of 126 felony counts being brought against four of the carrier’s top executives. In exchange for guilty pleas however, the charges were reduced down to just one misdemeanor count each. After a sentencing hearing last week, the company will have to pay back some of the millions of dollars it was alleged to have stolen, but the executives have all avoided any jail time.
With over 600 employees when the criminal charges were filed, Beam Bros was one of the largest mail carriers for the United States Postal Service. In the last ten years alone, they billed USPS over half a billion dollars.
According to the federal investigation into their business, Gerald, Garland, and Shaun Beam all created “grossly illegal” routes for Beam drivers. Drivers were then allegedly forced to falsify their records to make the routes seem legitimate. Their pay was even allegedly withheld until their logs were properly cooked.
Routes were so long that drivers would routinely get hardly any sleep for weeks at a time. According to a report from the Justice Department, it was common for drivers to “barely [avoid] crashes when they momentarily fell asleep.” The report also notes one driver who they found took bath salts every few hours. After three months of using the drug, when he went to start driving for the day, he “could no longer physically drive a truck and had to call for a medical rescue.”
Beam President Gerald Beam, VP Garland Beam, COO Shaun Beam, and CFO Nickolas Kozel have all pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge of conspiring to commit an offense against the United States. Gerald and Garland were both sentenced to six months of home confinement followed by two years of supervised release, while Shaun and Nickolas were each sentenced to three months of home confinement followed by two years of supervised release.
Beam Bros. Trucking, Inc and its parent company Beam Bros. Holding Corporation were sentenced to jointly pay $2 million to the government and $1 million in restitution to their former drivers. Additionally, the companies were sentenced to 3 years of corporate probation and must pay a fine of $250,000.
During the legal proceedings, Beam Bros sold all of its contracts and equipment to another carrier, Eagle Express Lines, who agreed to retain all of Beam’s employees as well. Eagle Express reportedly paid $26 million.
Source: DOJ, gobytrucknews, overdrive, truckersreport
Geno Kubiak says
What a joke the us government is
Bamabart says
And they wonder why truckers don’t trust there companies.
Squire says
This :
————————————————————————————————————————–
“Beam Bros. Trucking, Inc and its parent company Beam Bros. Holding Corporation were sentenced to jointly pay $2 million to the government and $1 million in restitution to their former drivers. Additionally, the companies were sentenced to 3 years of corporate probation and must pay a fine of $250,000.”
————————————————————————————————————————–
,,, may not appeal to our righteous sense of justice but makes more practical sense than tossing corporate heads into the slammer, bankrupting the company and sending the wronged home empty handed. Practicalities count more for the drivers than satisfying public indignation and political correctness.
Jefe says
The sold the company off. Putting them in prison will have zero effect on the employees ability to earn a paycheck.
Don says
Did you not read the part about selling the company and saving the drivers jobs?
Dan says
If you are guilty, you are guilty, PERIOD. There are no statutes that separate a man from a woman, or a person from a business. Good try on that though, lol
Mack says
If giving 1,666 $ to each of the 600 employees ( not all of them drivers at that) for defrauding them and making them work like slaves over many years is practical to you, then you should go into politics. Who are you? Are you a relative? Or just stoopid.
J Turner says
I agree. Keep in mind charges are not convictions. The govt would have had to prove each one of the charges, with each charge being defended against in the routine manner of defense dismissals then open court for testimony on the ones that do stick with all the nuances of jury trials after that. The case would have taken years and may have resulted in not guilty from the jury on some or all counts, with a cost of lord knows how much to prosecute and defend. This decision takes into account getting compensation to the drivers. Without knowing how many of the 600 employees qualify for driver compensation, wouldn’t any amount four figures and up be better than a goose-egg? Yep
Neil Pawelczak says
meanwhile the corporates get to sit at home with their 22 million plus what they didn’t have to pay back. Something doesn’t quite seem right here. They sold the company anyway. Let them hit the slammer and pay back all of what they stole. Thats what they would do to us regular People.
Paul Logan says
How much did they donate to the prosecutors election bid?
shogun says
As long as they apologized, i think that is punishment enough. Its omly 126 felonies, its not like they got caught with a pain pill not inside a prescription bottle.
Terry Cuneo says
Lol ya that would be like 5 yrs.
Ryan Russi says
Where is the Justice in the world any more? This is ridiculous. I will research ever Judge or Magistrate who played, even the smallest part in this and ask those who are able, not to vote for any of these unjust persons to sit in a courtroom again.
These company executives are exactly the same persons who tell no, delegate, rather order the drivers to drive beyond their hours of service, refuse to repair trucks and trailers PROPERLY. Yet, these judges, lawyers and magistrates cut deals with their friendly neighbors in their high society.
Strike a Blow For Justice, Punch an Attorney Today!
Spike says
Ryan, as a former police officer and politician……..there is no justice, only deals.
Max says
You want justice? Go to a cat house.
You want to get screwed? Go to court.
Sherry Jones says
More rich criminals that got a slap on the wrist. They’ll be back working a scam in another business.
Maria says
The majority of the rich criminals organized themselves into an elite club called the US Government.
Cliff says
So, these guys ripped off drivers and the gooberment, so warehousing them in a jail at tax payer expense is a good thing? Why should we have to pay for their screwup. No. Ankle bracelet these guys, force them to work to pay back everyone they ripped off, with interest, even it it takes the rest of their natural lives. I am always amazed at how so many want people like this to sit in a jail, costing everyone $80K to $100K a year when they should be making restitution to every entity they did wrong to.
Dwayne Oxford says
Yep, we NEED stocks & pillories, whipping posts and public hangings back.
Trucker's Wife says
I think the people that you are referring to think something like this: 1.Sitting at your luxury home with an ankle bracelet on isn’t the same sitting in a 6X8 room, shared with a stranger. 2.Prison slop probably doesn’t taste the same as the high end food that these millionaires are able to afford. 3. Enjoying the privacy of a comfortable bathroom over openly sharing a toilet in a cell with Tyrone and trying to avoid Bubba in the community shower are very different. I could go on, but hopefully you see my point. Poor felons don’t get to stay home with ankle bracelets on. They can go to jail like any other criminal would and their fine (that they can afford) will pay for it.
Calvin Hicks says
Really. Stop it!!
Charlie says
More like a $1 bullet to cure the problem.
Clara says
Only in China would that happen.
mousekiller says
what should happen is for them to lose every thing they gained . The fancy homes, cars, investments. the whole package. Sell it all at auction and repay the ones that got ripped off. Since the Arrow fiasco at Christmas corp theft by owners and officers is nothing to worry about ,it seems. Ok so we got caught, sell the company and retire until the next gig shows up.Mentality.
mousekiller says
Oh and if you the working man owes the IRS $1000 you can lose every thing. Literaly.
BrightEyes says
You need to say this louder and louder as these people go to the newest industry, paid prisons, and these are like trying to get rid of roaches. Very hard to do. You need to get to a radio station and say this over the air. You can start a small radio station without needing licenses. Info should be on the internet. Your comment is one the most practical I’ve read. YOU NEED TO SAY IT LOUDER, until others are saying it under their breath. I’ll buy your t-shirts.
Dwayne Oxford says
Can we say FARCE girlz & boyz?
Tony Edmond says
The government got more than the drivers!!! Always government first some of them was probably in on it to give them the contract
Patricia Munsch says
This is why so many trucking companies rip off the drivers and commit fraud. They get by with it. This really p me off
William says
I agree with you,this happened to me also when i hauled mail. When i refused to drive because i could not physical doit,they gave me 3 days off,this was with a different mail contractor. All mail contractors are scumbags. We went as far as to report them to the post office and the post office did nothing and told the contractor “keep your guys in check,we dont want them complaining to us”
Newtrucker says
The prosecutor should be prosecuted.
Juan Robledo says
This company and it’s crooked executive’s are just as bad and got away with a slap on the hand they’ll be back in business under a different company doing the same as usual, by the way 2 million isn’t anything compared to the 1/2 billion wow must be great to steal and rob from the taxpayers, it’s no good to rob from the government it doesn’t like competition apparently they got the upper hand
William Chapman says
They already are. Eagle Express. Deal done before sentence was published.
Dave says
Our ass would of been sentenced to maximum time. This is bs. And a driver doing bath salts. Cant see anyone letting a driver do that crap. Thats not like doing crank or coke. From what ive seen with people messed up on it. YOU ARE NOT DRIVING ANYTHING! I could of read it wrong. But ,still. Youve got millions,no jail time. I noticed tje government got more than the employees that were robbed. Imagine that.
Mike says
Yeah they should sit in jail the 20 mill they made for selling off is more than enough to pay for their stay, which would be more justice than sitting pretty in their big houses on forced vacation. Then you have all these drivers that actually ran like this for them? Ugh I got nothing more to say.
sam says
i worked for them in 2001-02 they had a lot of russians and others from that part of the world. i didnt see any of this but i did the same run the whole time. they let me go when i got sick just didnt call me back after the christmas holidays
AJ Bustamante says
I’m sure the government would have been just as lienient on those drivers if they fell asleep and killed people. What a joke. I’m sure there are some officials that took some kickbacks from these scumbags that didn’t want to be exposed.
. says
So that’s why I get my mail so fast! Seriously though, really pathetic! Slapped em on the wrists!
Paul says
Sentence to home confinement and 2 years probation. They have to pay fines too. They sold all their equipment & business contracts for $26 million and have to pay back $5 million maybe….. that still leaves them with $21 milllion to pocket!! Tell me again how this is consider punishment?? While drivers were forced to work as slaves!!
William Chapman says
Wrong. They have not sold. They transfered to Eagle Express. Same owners, new ICC.
Old man says
So if I walked in and sent them to the other side I’d get maybe a year of house arrest and a small fine by the guvs sentencing guidelines they gave these gross felons? The 2 tier justice system couldn’t be more prevalent.
Gary Wamsher says
Light sentence, follow the money. I bet some made it’s way back to management at The United States Postal Service.
Thirty8 says
What a slap in the face!!! These guys should be put under a jail..
Steve Bell says
Funny how wealthy people don’t need to go to jail????
Donald Mickunas says
So, they stole billions of dollars and pay back a few million with zero jail time. Who says crime doesn’t pay for some?
Driver says
Had a long talk with one of the beam drivers awhile back it was complete idiocy the things he said they were criminally required to do..looks like the rest of us get in more trouble for a speeding ticket than they get for 126 felonies..must have donated to a certain political campaign (that lost), or be kin.
William Koons says
I worked for another company that stole money from the USPS. It was a company called J.N. Moser. It closed it’s doors in January 2009. The owner took approximately $425,000. Closed their doors still owing the drivers 3 weeks pay. She was prosecuted and served 8 months. They still owe drivers money She is now out of prison on parole. She can’t pay the money owed to the drivers but was allowed to take a trip to Africa. Not kidding! I believe the prosecutors don’t really want to go to court so they plea bargains. We will never see the money. Maybe she will send us some of the pictures she took in Africa.
Will says
Lol.. another example when your case is only as good as your attorney… it pays to have money!!
F D. Trump says
I don’t blame the executives at all. Those knuckleheads could of not only said no; but filed suit for coercion. Eagle as a new employer? lol Can you say Murphy’s law?
Spike says
Eagle, another junk company that drivers are suckers to work for.
Ernest says
The real crime here is how the government let these guys get away with this with a misdemeanor charge. And a fine which amounts to pocket change compared to what they did to and stole from drivers and the USPS. Shame on this justice system which has always worked in favored of money and power.
Mark says
And we as drivers get frowned upon for being job hoppers. This is the kind of stuff we are expected ti put up with as employees.This is a disgusting story.
Matthew Ewers says
FIRE THESE CORRUPT JUDGES
Jeff says
Sorry about the typing errors was using hands-free headset and it makes lots of mistakes as you can see
Robert William says
And you wonder why good people go postal…who was the crooked judge and prosecutor in this case?
Ted says
Now, does DOT get to go after the drivers for fraudulent logs?
Red says
Shoot I’ll bet they’ll never do that again given the cruel punishment of having to stay in their very OWN luxury home for a few months and pay a few dollars fine…. and for what? Oh yeah, millions and millions of dollars profit made off the broken backs of the middle class. Unbelievable!! What a corrupt bunch of crooks – both the Corporate & Legal systems! The judge and prosecutors need to have their financials checked. I bet they both have several large “cash deposits”. This is just so crazy!
GM says
Nobody made these drivers do anything, one or two didnt get what they wanted and they went to the dot, When I worked as a driver i knew what i was in for but this is bs blaming beam bros
Craig says
The public hanging make sense considering the rich execs forced their drivers to perform unsafe act’s putting thousands on innocent life’s in danger for financial gain. This is another miscarriage of justice due to corrupt and inept judges and prosecutors not wanting to show a loss on their records so they can become another corrupt judge with visions of grandeur. Just include them in the public hanging.
Richard Hollifield says
Sorta sad a poor white ,black or hispanic sell a little dope to supplement his income or to get some for free. Winds up with 3 , 5 or more years . The person who brought from him or her got what they came for. Now the beams not only stifled you and I. Ie.taxpayers ,drivers and people who worked in the shops. But l am sure they didn’t pay tire dealers parts places etc. They all drove diesel vehicles plus garland had a big tank he would fill and take to his brothers farm in PA. They even got caught once using the fuel allotted to them by the government to haul freight other than mail. So once again they were stealing they were not paying for any fuel. Just to let you know they are driving new vehicles and went bankrupt on all the bills they owed. So yea they really are laughing all the way to the bank. The only government enmity that makes a profit U.S.P.O.. I guess the government feels for them cause they do the same thing. I.E. our Social Security and they barrow from the post office and never pay it back. So we are forced to pay more for stamps. Drive further away cause they close them down. It’s okay to steal taxpayers money to steal people’s Investments if you work on wall street and keep what you stole plus.get a bounus or run a business keep your ill gotten gains. It’s time for a change in this country…..
William Chapman says
Garland and his brothers then penned a deal with their buddies at Eagle Express to keep the mail contract, transfer all holdings to Eagle, keep the business running under a new ICC and all with the blessings of the FMCSA and Postal Service. All this after WRITING a Company Directive to a driver to change his logbook to become legal or pay would be withheld.
Steertire says
As a CEO, the government protects you. As a truck driver, the government screws you. Makes absolutely no sense.
Mack Daddy says
Are you getting the Big Picture here?
This is a small example of the difference between master, slave, and king.
Looks like more corruption on the guns part. You don’t get a slap on the wrist and sent home unless you don’t share your fortune with the king.
Mack Daddy says
Are you getting the Big Picture here?
This is a small example of the difference between master, slave, and king.
Looks like more corruption on the guvmnts part. You don’t get a slap on the wrist and sent home unless you don’t share your fortune with the king.
Crystal Gamble says
Who says crime doesn’t pay? Everything should be sold to pay the truckers first with interested. Then the government scents they reward bad behavior
L A Draper says
Tell me again what a great country we live in.
Jeff pearson says
SOOOO…CRIME DOES PAY? and if WE are off 15 minutes on our log book WE get a nice expensive fine …THAT WE HAVE TO PAY ALL OF….
Jeffrey Eakman says
Make them do the same work as their employees. As a trainee. On half pay. Driving the required 9 hours a day. Only eating what the trainer deems fit. And any of the other required necessary tasks. Oh, and only blind side backing.
Rick says
A working man owes the IRS some money they will ruin you. An executive frads the government out of millions and gets the white glove treatment. People can riot and burn blocks down. Police are ordered to stand down.Let a working man take over a BLM building in the middle of no where and they will get the full fury of the FBI, Tobacco&Firearms and state police on them. There are now layers of justice in America. The justice you get depends on what class you are in.
Benthere N Dunthat says
And everyone is still resisting ELDs cuz why??? As always we become our own worst enemy. Consider for a moment what would happen to this industry if EVERYONE ran legal and logged it like you ran it. At least with ELDs, any cooking of the log books would have to be done at the company’s hand. Consider also that with ELD’s, all the justification for not being able to pay us a living wage BY THE HOUR goes away because NOW they have a minute by minute account of our actual work day. Of course nothing will ever change because nowadays you’ll never be able to find five drivers to agree on anything and most will continue to complain but bend over and take whatever they can get and be happy about it.
Sandra says
This is absolutely astonishing! When I was driving I’ld get marks against me for being even 15 minutes over. We had electronic logs + could not change them in any way. I thought electronic logs were mandated now?
Michael says
For once, something I read in an article about trucking was actually accurate. A good friend of mine did a stint at Beam Brothers, and their routes really were completely impossible for a solo driver to log, and they totally expected you to make it happen anyway. His stint didn’t last long, and hey, if anyone cares he eventually got a great job.
It sucks that the bastards got away with a slap on the wrist, but what else is new in this corrupt country?
Red says
Well I’ve re-read this story and some others and here’s what I came up with: If you’re just an average person and you walk into a bank and rob them for $10,000,000 you WILL go to prison for atleast 10-15 years, become a convicted felon & miss out on good job opportunities as well as other freedoms (guns, voting, etc.), and you will be expected to pay back the $10,000,000 in restitution. Ok, seems legit. However….. If you create a corporation, let’s say Bankrobbers Inc., and position yourself as CEO…well your company can now rob that $10,000,000 from the same bank and since you “had no clue” what went on in the operations of your business you are no longer responsible for this crime. You WILL NOT go to prison, you WILL NOT become a convicted felon, and you personally WILL NOT have to pay any restitution. Your company will have to pay a small fee and maybe 10% restitution so the bank can get back $1,000,000 and the other $9,000,000 that’s “missing” gets to stay “missing”. Now the bank will probably sue your company for the rest, but hey since you don’t have any real financial ties to it, just run it into the ground, sell all assets, lay off all hard-working employees that live paycheck to paycheck, and let the investors take the big finiancial loss. What kind of BS is that? I know it sounds absolutely crazy but that is literally how it works in this country. Corporate laws and criminal penalties for businesses & executives need to be drastically improved or this will be a never ending cycle! Worst of all, the people who suffer the most are the people who aren’t greedy… the bottom 99% that just want to work hard and support their family.
MrBigR504 says
But yet if i got one slack adjuster off by a knats’azz, you’re ready to throw the book at my’azz!
Anthony Suarez says
They should of gotten crucified. If that was me or you, we would have gotten life. That is total BS…
John Ciely says
I hope they like it hot.
Pete says
A two tiered justice system. How much did the brithers donate to the judges bank account
Jude Ossowski says
I have to ask – Why did the drivers put up with this for so long? If they are qualified to haul mail, they should be able to get jobs hauling real freight.
Night crawler says
Well I work for a mail company that the labor board,founded them stealing driver and office staff money hours and procedures. They pay the office and the driver haven’t received anything. Come 5/18 will be 5yrs in we haven’t heard anything. Wait to top it off we are UNION. Try that!!!
Samuel Gallezzo says
The only reason this story has come to light is that someone has been able to prove the allegations. If you look at the sentences and their structure you will see that the government is in collusion with trucking companies.
Trucking companies and government agencies have a shared wet dream…automate trucking and cut the driver out of the equation. Try reporting a violation by a company. Unless you can prove every element of the allegations and have the help of an attorney you will get nowhere.
MartyM says
Corporate America and the government have been in bed together for a very long time. This proves, the government is not the solution, they are the problem.
Donald Drew Henderson says
Wow, who said crime doesn’t pay. Looks like millions and home time. They are allowed to play golf since the crooks live on the golf course.
Dirty Mechanic says
Looks like Beam Bro’s drivers will be in the same boat as before. Eagle Express Lines plays the same game with over hours violations. Drivers use multiple time sheets per day to hide violations and never report other jobs as required. Some drivers here are working 20 hours per day with just cat naps to function.