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On May 11, 2017, Roy E. Maynard, Jr., of Reeds, Missouri, was indicted in U.S. District Court, Springfield, Missouri, on charges related to the illegal transportation of hazardous materials.

 

On May 11, 2017, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) debarred Linda Williams, a former paratransit operator for Provide A Ride, a Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (GCRTA) contractor, and Pamela Gray Mason, a former GCRTA manager, from receiving Federal funds directly or indirectly through most Federal programs and procurements.

 

On May 11, 2017, FHWA suspended and proposed the debarment of Hercules Painting Company and its owner, Maria Savakis, based on an information filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania The information charged Maria Savakis with theft from a healthcare program, which was related to a fraudulent payroll scheme involving construction work performed on the FHWA-funded George C. Platt Memorial Bridge Project (Platt Bridge Project) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

 

On May 5, 2017, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) suspended Shonda Renee Stubblefield (a.k.a. Shonda McGowan) and her Houston, Texas-based company, World Corporation, Inc. (World Corporation), from doing business with the Government. The suspensions were based on a February 22, 2017, indictment that charged Stubblefield with theft of public money, mail fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, and aggravated identity theft in a scheme to fraudulently receive over $125,000 in Federal funds through FHWA’s Congestion Mitigation Air Quality (CMAQ) Program.

 

On May 3, 2017, Calvin Foulks and Michele Reed, former employees of the Detroit Department of Transportation, were sentenced in Michigan State Court to 1 year of probation. Foulks was ordered to pay $1,000 in restitution, and Reed was ordered to pay $625 in restitution. On March 28, 2017, both had pleaded guilty to forgery and bribery for their roles in a commercial driver’s license (CDL) fraud scheme.

 

On May 4, 2017, James L. Brumit was indicted by a Federal grand jury in U.S. District Court, Nashville, Tennessee, and charged with false statements, fraud concerning aircraft parts and aggravated identity theft. The indictment alleged that Brumit forged another mechanic’s signature to certify annual inspections in the maintenance logbooks for two privately owned aircraft.

 

On May 9, 2017, Ethan Hernandez was sentenced in U.S. District Court, Tulsa, Oklahoma, to 1 year probation for knowingly shining a laser light at a Tulsa Police Department Air Interdiction helicopter on May 21, 2016.

 

The FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 established a new criminal offense for aiming the beam of a laser pointer at an aircraft or at the flight path of an aircraft. The statute was enacted in response to a growing number of incidents of pilots being distracted or even temporarily blinded by laser beams.

 

On May 1, 2017, Denise L. Birt pleaded guilty to theft in Logan County Common Pleas Court, Bellefontaine, Ohio. Birt is the former executive director of the Tri-County Community Action Commission (TCCAC), a nonprofit organization that provided transportation services in the Shelby, Champaign, and Logan Counties of Ohio.

 

On April 24, 2017, David Stalowy agreed to an $112,500 civil settlement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Orlando, Florida, related to violations of the False Claims Act on a road construction project partially funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). Stalowy is the owner of Central Florida Environmental Corporation (CFE) in Winter Springs, Florida.