Investigations

On January 7, 2019, Jay Zachary Barber and Garrett Barber pleaded guilty and were sentenced in U.S. District Court, Salt Lake City, Utah, for conspiracy to defraud the United States and wire fraud.

 

Jay Zachary Barber was sentenced to 37 months’ imprisonment, 36 months’ probation, $1,324,399 in restitution, and to pay the outstanding FMCSA fine of $223,660 related to the Imminent Hazard Order (IHO) issued against his company, Barber and Reliable Transportation Inc. (Reliable), in 2012. Garrett Barber was sentenced to 18 months’ home confinement and 36 months’ probation. As a special condition of supervision, both individuals are prohibited from any type of involvement or association in a trucking business without court approval.

 

In March 2012, FMCSA issued the IHO against Reliable and Jay Zachary Barber after numerous violations of Federal safety regulations. Rather than bring Reliable’s operations into compliance, the Barber brothers devised a scheme to continue operating their trucking companies in violation of the IHO, which they maintained through at least March 2017.

 

The Barber brothers were indicted on September 6, 2017, on charges related to a scheme to evade enforcement of motor carrier safety regulation, and on August 20, 2018, they were charged via an information with conspiracy to defraud the United States and wire fraud.