A CDL school in Brooklyn, NY has shown the industry a new low. The school, N&Y Professional Service Line, has allegedly been helping students cheat to pass their CDL exams. According to prosecutors, the owners would supply the student with a jacket that had camera hidden in the sleeve. The student would point the camera at questions, transmitting the image to the owner waiting in a van outside. The owner would then transmit the answer to the student via a beeper they were given.
Law enforcement officials received a tip and sent an undercover agent to check out the operation. The agent was picked up in a minivan and taken to a DMV testing facility. A few minutes and $1,800 later, he had passed the exam. No classes, no studying, no tuition needed; just fork over $1,800 and completely ignorant, unskilled drivers can pass their CDL exam.
The operation was conducted by a husband and wife, both of whom plead guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and are scheduled for sentencing this week. In addition to turning over $175,000 of their ill-gotten gains, they face up to 20 years in prison.
The brazenness of the scam is perhaps the most shocking aspect. It’s hard to imagine that a scam this simple would last for any amount of time, but, according to the owner, this has been going on for a long time. Apparently, before the testing took place the owner reassured the agent, telling him not to worry and that he’d been helping applicants pass the test in this way for 10 years.
Over the course of a little over 2 years, more than 700 students of the school took the test. One of the them was a bus driver who was involved in a fatal wreck in Virginia that killed four people and injured dozens more.
All of those 700 students will be required to retake the written portion of their tests or have their license suspended. Of the 375 individuals who have already retaken their tests, only 93 have passed.
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Source: nydailynews, landline
William McKechnie says
If one of their “students” caused four deaths, these people should get life without parole!
Robert says
Wow twenty years is not enough. That is like sending out terrorist on roads. They should get nothing less then life.
william kidd says
Ok i’d like to say everything on the written test though essential can be picked up through common sense. and if you’ve doing this for a year you pick it up. so i really find the whole written portion a jk. second maybe the dmv shouldnt hand out inspection abilities like candy. this is just ad much the dmv’s fault that these accidents happen… it doesnt take long to get used to the air brake delay cause it generally scares the piss out of people the 1st time… but lets
Kate says
That’s crazy. The husband and wife should be brought up on manslaughter charges as well since one of the participants caused the accident that killed four people.
Old guy says
That is a slap in the face of every driver who studied long and hard and practiced many hours to properly learn how to drive a truck. A-holes like that couple give all responsible drivers a bad name.
Gary says
As William stated, the written test is all common sense. I got all my endorsements except for the bus. Was told I’d be in there most of the day. 94 min later I was done. If you can’t get by the written test without cheating. I don’t see how someone could get by the PT and road test.
John Bagi says
Your all right. They the school was a reason people die in wrecks & should be charged with murder!
Taylor Nicholson says
This type of crap is a large part of why things are so bad out here. Then the gov wants to clamp down on us that are doing it legal out here…
As for the deaths, the “driver” and the scammers should be charged with murder.
Darrel says
could never figure out what good comes out of NY,Conn, Boston or heck the Neastern states,lol
Roadghost says
Boy if they only knew what was going on. This is only the tip of the iceberg.
Gerri says
Truck drivers deserve all of the respect and admiration in the world to do what they do for the American civilian. Any truck driver would tell you: “Safety is 1st!”
The lust for money clouded the husband and wife’s judgement and put many at risk. I’m not sure what they deserve, but I hope that somehow they can truly understand what they have done! It is so much bigger than just the scam. There’s no telling how many others were injured because of them. Prayers go out to all on the roads tonight. Please be safe out there!
sudon't says
Good Lord, how stupid must you be to fail a DMV written exam? I mean, I was stupid enough to want to work in trucking yet, I had no trouble passing.
But I don’t see what the written exam has to do with safety. They still had to pass the driving test, and bad driving is where the danger comes from. One out of 700 was involved in a fatal crash? Statistically speaking, that doesn’t strike me as out of the ordinary. Let’s not blow our concerns out of proportion.
Outlaw says
I hope your not that naïve. A fatality, or in this case, 4 fatalities with dozens of injuries, isn’t enough for you????
G. Davis says
This is the tip of a massive iceberg…I watched a man taking the CDL test at a California DMV…he had a hat down over his ears and was obviously talking to a Bluetooth device…the DMV people were oblivious.
J.R O D says
I live in nyc/wash hts and I went to a school in missouri for 3 weeks….12 hours a day 7 days a week and I earned my cdl…ive been driving for 2 months now and I find it embarrassing that this happened in brooklyn, although not surprised. Im otr t r aining and the comments I hear about us in nyc and most of the northeast is disturbing and peiple like these are the reason why.