A trucker that threatened a DOT safety inspector after getting a ticket has been sentenced to jail.
Ronald Mockelman, an Owner-Operator in Nebraska, was issued a $3,680 fine because his single-employee company did not have a drug testing program. In response, he called up the FMCSA Nebraska office several times and threatened them before moving on up the chain to the FMCSA Midwestern Service Center and threatening them as well.
According to the DOT’s Office of the Inspector General, Mockleman made several threats including telling officials that he was buying a gun “and it’s war,” and said that “Every last one of you is dead.”
“The telephone calls threatened bodily injury in retaliation for FMCSA issuing a fine to Mockelman for failing to adhere to motor carrier safety regulations,” DOT stated. “On the same day, Mockelman allegedly made several threatening telephone calls to the FMCSA Midwestern Service Center in Illinois.”
His public defense attorney claimed that Mockleman was just blowing off steam, that he wrote a letter apologizing a few days later, and that he enrolled in an anger management class to help with his problem.
“This is a man who opened his mouth, stuck his foot in it and was venting, then he apologized soon after,” he said according to the Lincoln Journal Star.
Federal prosecutors disagreed, saying that what Mockleman had done was “wrong and illegal,” and that he should be punished.
The judge sided with prosecutors, sentencing Mockleman to nine months in prison, a year of supervised release, and 40 hours of community service.
Source: truckinginfo, overdrive, oig, oig, oig, journalstar, washingtontimes
“The judge sided with prosecutors, sentencing Mockleman to nine months in prison, a year of supervised release, and 40 hours of community service.”
These events helped the big trucking companies shut down a small trucking company and it also helped make money for the judge by feeding the prison system.
Yes….and the ticket was for not having a drug testing policy to enforce on himself……ur right, small companies and independents are under attack…..
Come on, really guys. When you go get your authority all the requirements are listed. When you don’t abide by them and then get caught, noone is to blame except yourself. Then you threaten others with bodily harm, you get what you deserve.
It’s called personal responsibility and being willing accept the consequences. A one man operation isn’t a threat to anyone. They could care less. If they didn’t do their job, you’d bitch about that. What if this guy had went off, like some of these wacks lately, and someone got hurt or killed. Still going to stand there, shrug your shoulders, with that dumbfounded look, and go, who da thunk it?
This to keep us inline, how to test yourself, etc, are just a bunch of lame excuses. Let’s grow up and put on the big boy pants. You aint in grade school anymore.
I agree, but why is there a double standard for our govt. Officials? I think this is a sub-symptom of the deep seated anger people are feeling with the corruption.
First every trucker and company are required to do drug testing. Over ninety percent of company s due drug testing. Second when he threatened dot officers and the threatend. The midewestern dot office. Threshing to get a gun and hurt them. These thing are against the law. There for punishable. He would due time in jail. They need to take his cdl and list him as threat to dot. Make sure he never get a cdl or run any company that has to do with transportation. IE you do the crime now due the time.
When will people demand that elected officials comply with the same laws they force on truck drivers? Answer: NEVER.
It shocks me that our government feels OK about ruining a person’s livelihood as well as possibly their future, because of some words. Our country has become so ridiculously PC that when someone gets frustrated and acts out in a non-violent, (though very troubling), way instead of sitting down with that person to see what the real issue may be we throw them in jail. I do not believe that he deserved the ticket, but if he was threatening people, he was very frustrated and he needed to be heard.
(Personally, as an aside, I believe that there has been such a ‘witch hunt’ around the trucking industry that many truckers are getting extremely frustrated by ridiculous rules made by people who do not really know anything about the industry. This may be the reason we end up with so few new people going into trucking.)
That being said, a bad attitude during an inspection only invites more trouble. Acting out really does not get you anywhere except placed in jail, as illustrated here.
Although I completely disagree with the ticket he got, threatening someone is a bit much. That’s a BS ticket but did his attitude during the inspection cause him to get it…………… Now there’s the real question.
Cherokee – I suspect that his demeanor had quite a bit to do with the ticket. A little “cooler heads prevail” goes a long way when dealing with the law.
No, this was the final insult, we as independents have been pushed to the brink, here is a guy that just wants to work and provide a better life for his family. I’ve been to that point, he had the courage to stand up to them….Seems the only thing government hears is violence, they bend over backwards for terrorists.its a shame that as a people we’ve let it get out of hand. His is just a flash incident to a much greater problem…thx for hearing me vent, we’re all in this together.
I feel ya, Dennis… But you can’t go around making threats like that on people’s lives… 9 mos. in jail… It cost him dearly.
Wait until he finds out prison is less stressful, the food is better than the T/A, free medical, his family is now eligible for Medicare, Medicaid & food stamps, welfare, etc.
He might want to stay in.
(And ironically, the taxes for said incarnation will come from the paycheck of the judge & prosecutor.)
We’ve reached the tipping point where soon the only jobs left will be government jobs.
Every business owner has rules and regulations they must adhere to. Gun shop owners have strict ways of buying, selling, & shipping regs.. Amature pilots can’t just fly where they want to because they’re just a small fish and there is plenty of room in the sky..
I was a O/O for over 10 yrs. It isn’t hard to comply with a few rules in a drivers qualification file.. OOIDA has all sorts of help to keep you up to date on regs.
I agree, this driver’s attitude seemed to be there before the ticket..
Just sayin’
The FMCSA is full of a bunch of useless, overpaid panzies. If they were not, they would have a real job.
Yes, he definitely failed the attitude test.
Also, our parasitic and predatory government will surely make an example of him.
Cherokee, absolutely. 5 years ago I had but one truck and got my audit. I was doing random drug testing when I had 8 drivers, but stopped when I sold and it was just me. The inspector was totally cool because I wasn’t trying to get over. Now I randomly test myself lol…. Ridiculous
Now THAT’S the part of the story that confused me. How do you “randomly” drug test yourself ?
Make a rullet wheel and put DRUG TEST TODAY on one or two of the wedges.Then spin it once every day
Kenny, now that’s a REAL LOL!
You join OOIDA or something, they will throw your name on a list and if it pops up you gotta pee in the cup.. That’s what I did..
Lol, that’s easy. When you’re sure you have no drugs floating around in your system, time for a “random”!
But seriously, nine months is a little harsh. Both the driver and the prosecutor overreacted.
Wow…. Randomly test yourself huh? Question is do you report that to DAC? lol
The problem is we have people shooting people every day just because they can. Threatening to shoot someone is no way to ” blow off steam”. They should have taken him seriously. I think his punishment is a bit excessive but we can no longer wait until someone gets hurt before we prosecute in this world today.
Yet one threatened to shoot my dog for no reason in Mississippi and that’s ok.. Truckings become a joke. Be glad when I’m out …I can’t compete with the kids coming in. Cheap freight cheap labor .. Accidents up…what a mess …
What’s so hard about joining a consortium and peeing in a cup when required to do so? I swear, we sometimes make this harder than what it has to be. It definitely cost much less than $3,860 and jail time that’s for sure when all the driver had to do was 1) either go to a private lab (they’re everywhere) and pee in a cup, and tell them where to send the results or 2) join a consortium and they’ll do it for you, they’ll even tell you when you have to pp again. But let me guess, the driver was either too busy or cheap to do so or just wanted to rebel just because….SMH
Some people are philosophically opposed to drug testing. As it’s done now, you’re being tested for what you do on your own time – not just at work. With an alcohol test, you’re being tested whether you’re intoxicated at that moment. This makes sense. That said, as an O/O, he could’ve chosen his own time.
Sounds like free speech to me. As long as you stay in step…
Threats are not free speach!
Threatening bodily harm is not free speech, sorry.
“every last one of you is dead” – is not free speech! It’s making terrorist threats and even harassment…both of which are illegal…as the prosecutor said. Every city and state in the US has laws on the books prohibiting threatening to do harm to someone. The guy was/is an idiot for threatening anyone…let alone a federal officer…on a recorded telephone line to a government agency no less. What an imbecile! He earned and deserves the nine months in prison. Anyone claiming free speech protections ought to read your state’s laws regarding threatening to physically harm another person with or without a gun.
Trying to protect one of our own when his conduct, his illegal conduct, may tarnish our profession is absurd.
While we do have free speech, as the law community says, one does not have the right to yell fire in a crowded theater falsely causing/creating alarm. Free speech but let he be responsible for the abuse of it.
The ticket sucks, but we at our single truck operation, get compliance letters regularly when we need to address an issue. Im sure he had ample notice to handle this.This is where this industry is today and the rules are the rules! Follow them or get out! To threaten anyone is wrong! Grizzly Bear 29 yrs Driver
He must have thought that if he threatened to kill enough of them they’d just throw out the fine for the law he broke. Anger management issues seem to run common with truck drivers. I’ve had so many drivers try to start fights with me that I had to take the CB out of my truck.
Maybe there’s a reason his company didn’t have a drug testing program. Calling the FMCSA, telling them you’re buying a gun, and “this is war”? Someone’s smoking something… Just sayin’…
Sticks and Stones may Break my Bones BUT WORDS WILL NEVER HURT ME. Free speech if and until he actually DID something other than talk it is FREE SPEECH especially over the phone come on I have heard the saying Reach out and Touch someone but this is ridicules if he took no physical action other than words. So does this mean the next time we hear Odumbo or another politician threaten WAR which involves major deaths or an officer threaten someone with jail or any like WORDS being said they themselves should be tried and imprisoned for threats? As these ARE THREATS as well actually being more likely to happen than a guy blowing off steam.
You’re wrong, gearjamn. The First Amendment is not absolute, and does NOT protect speech just because no act followed the threat. The only time you can yell “Fire!” in a crowded theater is if there is an actual fire. Threatening to go buy a gun and telling government officials they’re all dead can hardly be categorized under “sticks and stones…” That’s a child’s argument.
Threatening someone is assaulting them. Actually touching or hitting them is battery.
Government officials’ ability to send their threateners to jail must surely elicit a modicum of envy from outspoken political commentators, who routinely receive death threats from society’s dregs.
By the way, for those ignoramuses who don’t realize this, what the guy said is highly jail-worthy. Such threats are taken seriously by government officials, and for good reason.
Basically your options when presented with a ridiculous law are: (a) ignore it at risk of being caught, (b) get out of the business, and, if you choose (a) and get caught, NOT (c) tell the government you’re coming to get them.
Personally I prefer (a) just like this guy originally did, but I definitely stay away from (c).
A) As little as 10 years ago, I would agree that could have been a free speech issue. In light of the many killings we’ve recently witnessed, and, especially those killers that said they were going to kill and no one took action to stop it, it is not free speech. It must be taken as a serious threat. The Government has, as one of it’s primary duties, an absolute responsibility to protect the public.
B) My Consortium costs me $50.00 a year. My drug tests have cost me as much as $165.00 and as little as $50.00. Do the math.
C) Nine months isn’t so bad. I would have given him 3 years. Minimum. Either that or a life sentence working at the Pilot in Atlanta. This could a very good life changing event for him. Depends on how he handles it.
Kudos to the authorities for intervening.
Not the Pilot in Atlanta…death penalty would be much more humane…
LOL I never go to that Atlanta Pilot….that place is a curse!!
What happened to common sense rule. The DOT, judge, an driver all lost their minds for something that small of an issue.
good place for him this world is out of control idiot will think twice when he finally gets out I think he should stay there for 20 years.. threatening people lives because you don’t do what law says isn’t right.. I wonder how he would of felt and how fast he would of called the police or sued the fmcsa good job keep him there….
You do not threaten a government offical no matter how much they humiliate you or steal your money. That is wrong because they are as gods now. As for the drug testing. This is a joke and money bracket. I was with a company here in Florida. They had random test but if I sent in $100, I did not have to take it.
What really gets under my skin. I have been driving 35 years and have never taken or used any illegal drugs. But I am classified as a drug user. All to take more money out of the owner operators pocket.
This is an example of the guy who shouldn’t be able to have a gun…and the reason that many people want to disarm everyone…
And I am even concerned about him driving a truck..He is showing mental health issues and a serious lack of impulse control…
The fine was a bit much, so makes me think he was a total jerk to the inspector. His jail time was justified. Opening your mouth 1 time could be considered blowing off steam, but repeatedly calling and then threatening to buy a gun and I shoot them. If one of my kids worked there and came home telling me they were threatened by an angry trucker, I would be terrified! He should lose his license too. On the road, as owner operator truckers, my husband and I run into lots of things that infuriates us, but we maintain a professionalism. We feel we have to, because if we allow that anger to come out, especially on the road one day, someone could get killed. This guy obviously had anger management issues and got what he deserved. Calling and threatening is one thing, but how many times has he probably been a part of road rage. He’s obviously mentally unstable.
The law enforcement can threaten us and our livelyhood but that is ok.
If you think this is a “Free Country” Think again…it’s run by the government, and for the government .Your NOT included !You stand up to fight their abuse of you….They will ruin you ! The state Ohio did the to me in Sept 2005, so I know from experience from which I speak.
I’m beginning to think the human race isn’t humane anymore, seems a lot more people just rage on one another before thinking things through.
Can’t help but wonder if those who are defending this wacko would feel the same if they found out he was an American of Arab or Iranian decent. The guy repeatedly threatened to murder people, even gave details on how he’d do it. To defend him is ludicrous.
I don’t see Andy Parker being even charged for making threats to a state representative.
Guess it all depends on your political ties whether or not you get prosecuted.
Perhaps he needed health care and the jail provided it.