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Owner of Pennsylvania Trucking Firm Pleads Guilty to Criminal Conspiracy and False Statement Charges

On March 16, 2012, Dean Landis, the owner and operator of D.A. Landis Trucking, Inc., a Lancaster, Pennsylvania company, pled guilty in U.S. District Court, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to criminal conspiracy and false statement charges relating to the firm's systematic falsification of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA)regulated truck drivers daily logbooks.  Mr. Landis admitted that, between January 2007 and November 2009, he directed at least ten company commercially licensed truck drivers to prepare and maintain false driver daily logbooks. 

Mr. Landis further admitted that he and his company routinely disregarded FMCSA regulations by allowing, encouraging, and causing commercial truck drivers employed by D.A. Landis Trucking, Inc., to operate in violation of FMCSA "hours of service" safety regulations.  Mr. Landis instructed employees of the company to prepare two sets of driver's logs, one of which was false and intended for FMCSA inspectors to conceal violations of safety regulations.  D.A. Landis Trucking, Inc., also dispatched company drivers on trips they knew required excessive hours of driving time and excessive hours of "on-duty" time, without allowing the required hours of rest or regulated "off-duty" time.  During the execution of a search warrant of the company, federal agents seized numerous logbooks and documents marked "Not For DOT". 

The logbook investigation revealed that Mr. Landis also participated in a scheme in which DA Landis Trucking, Inc., transported adulterated milk not fit for human consumption to a New Jersey cheese manufacturer.  On March 12, 2012, the United States Attorney's Office filed a one-count information charging the Lebanon Cheese Company and owner Joseph Lotito with using condemned milk that tested positive for unacceptable levels of bacteria and antibiotics in the production of consumer food products.  Mr. Landis knowingly sold and transported the condemned milk to Lebanon Cheese who, in turn, knowingly used the milk in the production of cheese products.  Knowing the milk was condemned, Mr. Landis illicitly sold the product at a discounted rate and profited nearly $30,000.  

This investigation was worked jointly with the Food and Drug Administration's Office of Criminal Investigation, with assistance from FMCSA.