Trucking news and briefs for Friday, May 16, 2025:
Congress members urge Trump administration to act on staged accident fraud
Members of Congress led by Rep. Mike Collins (R-Georgia) are requesting the establishment of a specialized task force dedicated to investigating and prosecuting staged accident fraud.
In a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, Collins said staged accident schemes “pose serious risks to public safety, increase consumer costs, and raise insurance premiums for the motoring public.” He cited statistics from the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud that show insurance fraud costs the U.S. $308 billion annually, with $45 billion attributable to property and casualty insurance fraud.
“Criminal elements are launching an assault against America’s truckers, in the courtroom and on our roads,” Collins said. “Staged accidents take advantage of truckers’ high insurance coverage and make them prime targets for criminals looking for a quick payday, saddling truckers with millions of dollars in inflated damages, increasing insurance premiums for all Americans, and driving up the costs for every transported good. These fraudsters and their co-conspirators need to be held accountable for their actions and put in jail for making every one of us less safe on the roads.”
The letter calls on Bondi and the Trump Administration to form a task force for investigation and prosecuting staged accident fraud.
“Supervised by you and your team, a collection of law enforcement agencies (Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security, and local police departments), along with the Department of Transportation, businesses, and the public can help identify and dismantle these criminal enterprises,” the letter said. “Enhanced public awareness campaigns, increased enforcement, and stricter penalties for offenders are essential to deter these scams. Holding these criminal enterprises accountable for their actions will send a signal that the Administration is serious about restoring law and order.”
In addition to Collins, the letter was also signed by Reps. Lance Gooden (R-Texas), Tony Wied (R-Wisconsin), Tom Barrett (R-Michigan), Glenn Grothman (R-Wisconsin), Tom Tiffany (R-Wisconsin) and Jimmy Patronis (R-Florida).
The letter follows the introduction by Collins earlier this year of the "Staged Accident Fraud Prevention Act," which would make intentionally staging a crash with a motor vehicle a federal crime.
[Related: New bill would make staged-accident fraud a federal crime]
Truck driver gets maximum sentence for smuggling immigrants in trailer
A 34-year-old Alamo, Texas, resident has been ordered to prison for smuggling people into the United States from multiple countries, announced U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei. Eusebio Cavazos pleaded guilty Feb. 13.
On Dec. 13, 2024, Cavazos drove a tractor-trailer into the primary inspection lane at the Border Patrol checkpoint near Sarita, Texas. Upon initial inspection, a K-9 alerted to the possible presence of humans in the trailer.
Authorities referred him to secondary inspection where they discovered 36 illegal migrants in the back of the trailer and nothing else. Of the 36 people in the trailer, 15 were from Guatemala, 10 from Honduras, eight from Mexico and three from El Salvador. All were illegally present in the United States, and five had allegedly been previously removed and had pending charges for illegal re-entry.
Cavazos admitted someone had hired him to drive all 36 illegal migrants from a point near Donna, Texas, to Houston. He expected to receive $1,000 per person he was transporting.
U.S. District Judge David Morales ordered Cavazos to serve the statutory maximum of five years in federal prison to be immediately followed by three years of supervised release.
At the hearing, the court heard additional evidence regarding numerous sentencing enhancements applied in the case. These included transporting over 25 aliens, recklessness for locking the aliens in the back of a cold trailer with no means of escape, transporting a minor and using his skills as a truck driver to commit the crime.
In handing down the sentence, Judge Morales noted he would have sentenced Cavazos to a higher sentence if not for the statutory maximum of 60 months.
Cavazos has been and will remain in custody pending transfer to a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement - Homeland Security Investigations and Border Patrol conducted the investigation.
