South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicle Employee Sentenced for Issuing Fraudulent Commercial Driver's Licenses
On May 8, 2012, in U.S. District Court, Columbia, South Carolina, Brenda Kay Poston, a former South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles (SCDMV) customer service representative, was sentenced to 3 years probation, a $100 special assessment, 6 months home confinement, and ordered to undergo vocational and psychiatric evaluations for her role in a scheme to provide commercial driver licenses (CDL) to unqualified applicants.
This joint investigation with the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division was predicated as a result of a request for assistance from the SCDMV following their discovery that Ms. Poston aided several individuals in the creation of false CDL test scores, knowledge and road test scores, and operational enhancements, such as hazardous materials and passenger endorsements, by entering false information into the SCDMV databases. OIG and SCDMV conducted a historical review of the driver history records system which identified 19 drivers with suspicious or unverifiable credentials dating back to 2004. Ms. Poston confessed to her role in the issuance of 19 CDLs and 13 drivers admitted to obtaining their CDLs or endorsements fraudulently. SCDMV officials instituted administrative revocations of those drivers' credentials and offered re-examinations of all drivers believed to be the recipient of fraudulent CDLs. Ms. Poston was subsequently terminated from her position.