Investigations

On February 11, 2020, in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama, James F. Welburn of Fortson, Georgia, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery and fraud during a scheme to defraud the State’s commercial driver’s license (CDL) program.

 

Welburn is the owner and president of American Truck Driving Academy (ATDA), a commercial truck driving school in Opelika, Alabama. According to the plea agreement, he issued cash payments to a third-party CDL examiner at the Georgia Department of Driver Services (GDDS) for each ATDA student tested. The plea agreement states that Welburn intended to influence the examiner to give ATDA students favorable treatment during CDL examinations.

 

DOT-OIG conducted this investigation with assistance from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and GDDS.