Three defendants admitted guilt in a bribery case that produced more than 100 fraudulent commercial driver’s licenses by buying and selling falsified test results, fake training entries, and phony skills test scores.

Three people—Mahmoud Alhattab, Jonathan Parsons, and Marline Roberts—have pleaded guilty to one count each of bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 666. Prosecutors say the scheme funneled cash and favors to corrupt employees and certified examiners so applicants could skip the legal steps to a commercial driver’s license.

According to plea statements, Alhattab ran the operation and charged applicants about $5,000 on average for an unearned CDL. He is accused of arranging for correct answers to be entered on knowledge tests, manipulating training records, and producing false skills test results so permits and licenses could be issued without real testing.

Federal rules require three main steps to earn a CDL: a written knowledge test at the Office of Motor Vehicles that leads to a commercial learner’s permit, entry-level driver training that demonstrates on-road proficiency, and a skills test administered by state-authorized examiners. Investigators say the conspirators systematically defeated each step to move people through the system without meeting safety or competency standards.

To beat the knowledge test, Alhattab admitted bribing two employees at a Donaldsonville, Louisiana OMV office. Court papers describe him sending a photo of an applicant’s driver’s license and the endorsements sought, then having the OMV employee enter the correct answers so a commercial learner’s permit could be issued based on falsified scores.

Alhattab’s plea says he sometimes used non-public entrances, took applicant photos himself, paid the OMV employees in cash, and provided meals as part of the arrangement. When applicants arrived for the license, Alhattab sometimes told staff that the person “is outside [the OMV office] to get his CDL” and “No English,” notes that prosecutors say helped smooth over language barriers and avoid scrutiny.

For the training step, Alhattab admitted paying trainers to create false records. Parsons, one of those trainers, pleaded guilty to reporting completion of entry-level driver training in a federal database for people who never completed the required instruction or behind-the-wheel practice.

The skills test, the final gate, was also corrupted. Parsons and the other training operator were certified to administer skills tests and, according to their pleas, falsely reported passing scores. Roberts admitted she created fake score sheets on seven occasions in early 2023 to support Parsons’s false reports.

Prosecutors explain that early in the scheme Alhattab sometimes posed as an applicant and drove the test vehicle to give the appearance of a legitimate examination, but later he and Parsons stopped that pretense and routinely entered test results without the applicant or Alhattab present. On some occasions Parsons paid Roberts to corroborate the fabricated results.

From about August 2020 through February 2024 Alhattab is accused of causing at least 124 people to fraudulently receive CDLs, and Parsons admitted causing at least 118 fraudulent issuances by submitting false training or skills-test entries, or both. Roberts’s admitted conduct is more limited but still part of the falsified documentation that fed the scheme.

The charge the three pleaded guilty to, Bribery Concerning Programs Receiving Federal Funds, carries a statutory maximum of 10 years imprisonment, up to three years of supervised release, a fine up to $250,000, and a $100 special assessment. Sentencing for the defendants is scheduled for October 28, 2026.

Other defendants named in the indictment remain awaiting trial, and officials noted those charges are allegations that must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. The investigation was led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Department of Transportation—Office of Inspector General, with assistance from the Louisiana State Office of Inspector General and Louisiana Public Safety Services.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Chandra Menon of the Public Integrity Unit is handling the prosecution on behalf of the government. The case files and plea agreements outline how bribery and falsified records combined to create a public-safety risk by allowing unqualified drivers to obtain commercial credentials.