Trucking company, president sentenced in PHMSA-related scheme

JNE Trucking Co. Inc. and company president Jamie Meras were sentenced Feb. 1 in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California for making false statements and fraudulent reproduction of motor carrier records. JNE was sentenced to a $100,000 criminal fine, a $400 special assessment and five years probation. Meras was sentenced to a $20,000 fine, a $100 special assessment and five years probation.

According to the Department of Transportation’s Office of the Inspector General, JNE employees falsely represented to a Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration investigator that a JNE driver had a copy of shipping papers in his possession during the shipment of hazardous materials, when in fact he did not.

In assisting with this cover-up, Meras e-mailed a fraudulent bill of lading to the PHMSA investigator indicating that the JNE driver had it in his possession at the time of shipment, said DOT-OIG, whose investigation was worked jointly with the assistance of PHMSA.