Legal issues

Sentencing of attorney in Louisiana truck accident scam delayed again

The one attorney involved in the Louisiana staged truck accident scheme who was indicted and subsequently pleaded guilty still does not know his fate.

Danny Keating was to be sentenced Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, but it has been postponed.

Sentencing has also been put on hold for Damian Labeaud, the on-the-ground ringleader who choreographed the collisions between cars full of individuals and (mostly) trucks.

Keating’s sentencing is now set for July...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/sentencing-of-attorney-in-louisiana-truck-accident-scam-delayed-again

Arkansas authorities bust truck driver accused of hauling illegal cigarettes

A truck driver was arrested in Arkansas after authorities say they discovered nearly 28,000 packs of untaxed cigarettes in his vehicle. 

Arkansas Tobacco Control and the Central Arkansas Drug Task Force agents arrested driver Emile Bangoura, 35, of Atlanta, after an April 10 traffic stop on his semi-truck revealed the contraband cigarettes, authorities said in a news release. It was the second-largest seizure in Arkansas Tobacco Control history. 

The cigarettes were valued at more than $243,000.

Th...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/arkansas-authorities-bust-truck-driver-accused-of-hauling-illegal-cigarettes

Philadelphia CDL school owner sentenced to prison for licensing scheme

A former CDL school owner in Philadelphia was sentenced to nearly five years in prison for bribing a CDL exam administrator to pass students who didn’t take the exam.

Vladimir Tsymbalenko, 53, who owned Vlad’s CDL School, was sentenced to four years and nine months in federal prison and three years of supervised release by U.S. District Court Judge Jeffrey L. Schmehl. He was also fined $5,000. 

“The last thing anyone should want on our roads are people behind the wheel of big rigs or school buses...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/philadelphia-cdl-school-owner-sentenced-to-prison-for-licensing-scheme

Scopelitis seminar delves into lease purchase deals, M&A, ESG and more

INDIANAPOLIS — The Scopelitis Transportation Law Seminar is a three-day parade of speakers and panels discussing everything from what states’ license plates fleets should seek to slap on their trucks to the treatment of owner-operators whose trucks leave the road for maintenance. The gathering examines hundreds of legal situations fleets might face.

Here are five takeaways from the multitude of subjects the seminar covered.

The growing focus on lease purchase agreements

The ongoing task force...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/scopelitis-seminar-delves-into-lease-purchase-deals-ma-esg-and-more

CTA, OOIDA to appeal court decision upholding AB5 in California trucking

The California Trucking Association and the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association will appeal last month’s decision that rejected their latest attempt to block imposition of California independent contractor law AB5 on the state’s trucking sector.

The decision to appeal the ruling to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, filed Friday with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, came as something of a surprise given the consensus in the trucking legal community...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/cta-ooida-to-appeal-court-decision-upholding-ab5-in-california-trucking

Minimum pay for Uber, Lyft drivers in Minneapolis pushed back to July

The showdown in Minneapolis over a May 1 level of minimum pay for what the city calls Transportation Network Companies — specifically, Uber and Lyft — has been put off for at least two months.

With both companies having said they would pull out of the city when the minimum compensation ordinance went into effect at the start of next month — and news reports saying Uber (NYSE: UBER) also would withdraw from the larger Twin Cities area, including the airport, which is not located in either...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/minimum-pay-for-uber-lyft-drivers-in-minneapolis-pushed-back-to-july

Former Tony’s Express workers, drivers say mismanagement sank company

Former Tony’s Express truck drivers and other employees say financial mismanagement by new owner John Ohle led to the 70-year-old trucking company’s recent collapse.

Tony’s Express, headquartered in Fontana, California, shut down March 28 after Ohle and others sent a series of text messages starting on March 24, informing workers that the company would not be running trucks the following day “due to a truck insurance issue.”

In texts obtained by FreightWaves, Ohle sent a second message March 25...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/former-tonys-express-workers-drivers-say-mismanagement-sank-company

Fired driver stung by Drive-A-Check report loses appeal in defamation case

A truck driver dismissed from his job who then sued over a report filed on him to a background check agency has lost his defamation lawsuit against his former employer for a second time.

A three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a unanimous decision, said Dillon Transportation acted properly when it submitted information on driver Frank McKenna to HireRight, an action that McKenna said in his initial lawsuit defamed him.

In ruling for Dillon last week, the judges upheld a...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/fired-driver-stung-by-drive-a-check-report-loses-appeal-in-defamation-case

Minnesota man pleads guilty to embezzling $1.3M from truck dealer

A Minnesota man has pleaded guilty in federal court to embezzling more than $1.3 million from his employer, I-State Truck Centers, in a multiyear scheme. 

Leon Arthur Keener, 55, of Hugo, pleaded guilty last Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota to mail fraud after he used his position as manager from 2015 through 2022 to pocket company money. Keener began working for the Minneapolis-based truck dealer and repair shop in 2011, court documents say. 

While working at...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/minnesota-man-pleads-guilty-to-embezzling-1-3m-from-truck-dealer

Court upholds EPA’s ability to grant environmental waivers to California

The ability of California to set its own, more stringent environmental and emissions standards — the basis for the state’s Advanced Clean Trucks rule and possibly its Advanced Clean Fleets rule — was upheld Tuesday by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

The case, Ohio vs. EPA, had a plethora of plaintiffs, including 16 states besides Ohio and a group of petroleum-focused trade groups such as the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers and the National Association...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/court-upholds-epas-ability-to-grant-environmental-waivers-to-california

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