SHREVEPORT, La. - United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced today that a Louisiana third party commercial driver’s license skills examiner pleaded guilty to falsifying test results by indicating a passing grade for driving skills tests that never took place.
Christopher D. Pender, 40, of Stonewall, La., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Elizabeth E. Foote to one count of making and using a false writing and document. According to the guilty plea, Pender, who was certified to administer commercial driver’s license skills tests, provided an applicant with a “Commercial Driver’s Skills Test Certificate" in November of 2014 when the applicant had not even taken, much less passed, the federally required test. He did this in exchange for cash, which allowed the applicant to fraudulently obtain a Louisiana commercial driver’s license.
Pender faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing is scheduled for September 8, 2016.
The U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General and the Louisiana State Police conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys William J. Flanagan and Michael O’Mara are prosecuting the case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
