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On May 10, 2023, Avraham Zano pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida to wire fraud, interstate transportation of stolen property, and failure to give up possession of household goods. In September 2022, Zano, owner of Zano Moving and Storage, LLC, and Sofien Mlayah, an employee of Zano, were indicted for conspiring to steal household goods from victims who hired the company for interstate moving services.
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05.23.2023
On May 4, 2023, State criminal complaints were filed in New Castle, Pennsylvania charging Welton Darl Shipe and Joseph Berkich with multiple felony and misdemeanor counts in connection to their work on the Mark West Liberty Pipeline, an interstate natural gas liquids pipeline. Shipe was charged with tampering with public records, tampering with records or identification, risking a catastrophe, criminal conspiracy, and unsworn falsification to authorities.
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05.23.2023
On April 21, 2023, a grand jury in the District of Alaska indicted Michael Anthony “Tony” Roberts for serving as an airman without an airman's certificate and aircraft registration fraud. The indictment alleges that on February 27, 2022, Roberts piloted an aircraft in Wasilla, Alaska, resulting in a crash on takeoff. Roberts also displayed a false or misleading registration mark on the aircraft.
 
DOT-OIG is conducting this investigation with the Alaska State Troopers with substantial assistance from FAA.
 
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05.22.2023
On March 28, 2023, Sofien Mlayah pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida to wire fraud, interstate transportation of stolen property, and failure to give up possession of household goods. In September 2022, Avraham Zano, owner of Zano Moving and Storage, LLC, and Mlayah, an employee of Zano, were indicted for conspiring to steal household goods from victims who hired the company for interstate moving services.
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05.18.2023
On May 3, 2023, following a 2-week trial, Debra Lynn Mercer-Erwin was convicted in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas for conspiracy to commit money laundering and wire fraud, conspiracy to possess cocaine with intent to distribute, and conspiracy to manufacture and distribute cocaine knowing it would be imported into the United States. Mercer-Erwin was found not guilty of conspiracy to commit aircraft registration and export violations.
 
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05.15.2023
On April 25, 2023, in the Western District of Michigan, the U.S. Attorney filed an information charging three companies and nine individuals for conspiring to violate the Clean Air Act. The companies are Diesel Freak, LLC; Accurate Truck Service, LLC; and Griffin Transportation, Inc. The individuals charged are Ryan Lalone, Wade Lalone, Douglas Larsen, Craig Scholten, Ryan Bos, Robert Swainston, Randy “Jeb” Clelland, Scott Dekock, and Glenn Hoezee. On the same day, a grand jury in the Western District of Michigan indicted Dustin Rhine and James Sisson for their involvement in the scheme.
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05.09.2023
What We Looked At
We queried and downloaded 74 single audit reports prepared by non-Federal auditors and submitted to the Federal Audit Clearinghouse between January 1, 2023 and March 31, 2023, to identify significant findings related to programs directly funded by the Department of Transportation (DOT).
 
What We Found
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05.05.2023