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In accordance with the Accountability of Tax Dollars Act of 2002, we are initiating an audit of the Surface Transportation Board’s (STB) financial statements for fiscal years 2024 and 2023. The objective of this audit will be to express an opinion on whether STB’s financial statements are fairly presented, in all material respects, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States.

On March 14, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland sentenced Matthew Hebert to 12 months of probation, a $500 fine, and a $25 assessment. On the same date, Hebert pleaded guilty to knowingly or willfully violating United States National Defense Airspace. 

According to court documents, Hebert unlawfully operated a drone during the National Football League’s AFC Championship Game on January 28, 2024. Due to the drone’s incursion, the game was temporarily suspended.

One of the Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) highest priorities is helping public transit agencies maintain their bus and rail systems in a state of good repair. According to FTA, state of good repair is the condition in which a capital asset, such as a unit of rolling stock, a facility, a unit of equipment, or an element of public transportation infrastructure, is able to operate at a full level of performance. According to the Department, the Nation’s public transportation systems have a combined repair backlog of over $105 billion.

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On March 14, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia sentenced William Liebisch to 30 months of incarceration, 3 years of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment. In December 2023, Liebisch pleaded guilty to interfering with a flight crew.

On March 13, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania convicted and sentenced Madhura Atitkar and Atitkar’s company, Vega Solutions, Inc. Atitkar was sentenced to 36 months of probation, 100 hours of community service, a $20,000 fine, and a $200 special assessment. Vega Solutions was sentenced to 60 months of probation, a $243,105 fine, and a $400 special assessment. Each was also sentenced to $59,165 in joint and several restitution.

On March 1, 2024, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania filed an information charging Khaled Dallo with conspiracy to commit Federal program bribery. Dallo was the vice president of a masonry restoration contractor that was the main contractor on Amtrak's federally funded 30th Street Station Façade Repair and Restoration Project in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Dallo supervised the contractor's performance on the project, which was valued at over $87 million and funded almost entirely with FRA grant funds.