Defendants Convicted for Scheme Enabling More Than 100 Drivers, Many Not Proficient in English, to Fraudulently Obtain Commercial Driver’s Licenses
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA /Thursday, September 10, 2026 – All six defendants involved in a bribery scheme, that enabled more than 100 people to fraudulently obtain commercial driver’s licenses, have now pleaded guilty, announced U.S. Attorney David I. Courcelle.
JENAY DAVIS (“DAVIS”) pleaded guilty on September 2, 2026, and CHRISTOPHER BRYAN BURNS (“BURNS”) and SHAKERA MILLIEN (“MILLIEN”) pleaded guilty on September 9, 2026. The other defendants—MAHMOUD ALHATTAB (“ALHATTAB”), JONATHAN PARSONS (“PARSONS”), and MARLINE ROBERTS (“ROBERTS”) pleaded guilty on July 29, 2026. All six defendants appeared before U.S. District Judge Jane Triche Milazzo.
ALHATTAB, a restaurant owner, led a scheme in which Commercial Driver’s License (“CDL”) applicants paid him an average of $5,000 to obtain unearned CDLs. The scheme enabled applicants to bypass all three main federally-mandated steps of the CDL qualification process: the knowledge test, entry-level driver training, and the skills test.
“The commercial transportation industry is a vital component of this nation’s economy. As a result, the competency and fitness of commercial drivers to safely and knowledgeably operate those vehicles on our streets and highways, is vital to the welfare of all the other drivers in our communities,” said United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana David I. Courcelle. “Solely to satisfy their own greed, the perpetrators of this sweeping fraudulent scheme callously endangered the lives of other drivers by allowing commercial drivers, who were woefully unprepared to safely navigate travel hazards, to operate on America’s roadways. However, today’s convictions demonstrate the combined mission of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General’s Southern Region, to hold fraudsters accountable for their crimes and to keep American roads safe for commuters.”
“Every defendant in this case was willing to endanger the motoring public by giving unqualified people authorization to operate commercial vehicles,” said Special Agent in Charge Jonathan Tapp of the FBI New Orleans Field Office. “Our partners at the DOT-OIG, Louisiana Department of Public Safety Office of Motor Vehicles, and the Louisiana Office of Inspector General helped us build a strong case for prosecutors. We thank the U.S. Attorney's Office for their unwavering support in our fight against dangerous fraud.”
“The convictions announced today underscore the grave danger posed by schemes that undermine the integrity of the commercial driver’s licensing process. Deliberately circumventing federally mandated safety requirements is not only unlawful—it puts everyone on our nation’s roadways at risk,” stated Joseph Harris, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General’s Southern Region. “We will continue working with our federal, state, and local partners to aggressively investigate these schemes, dismantle them, and hold accountable those who put the traveling public at risk for personal gain.”
The knowledge test, administered at the Office of Motor Vehicles (OMV), is a written examination covering vehicle safety systems, emergency situations, procedures for various maneuvers, and extreme driving conditions. Passing this test results in the issuance of a commercial learner’s permit, which is required before an applicant can proceed to training and the skills test.
To bypass the knowledge test, ALHATTAB bribed MILLIEN and DAVIS, employees at the Donaldsonville, Louisiana OMV office. ALHATTAB typically sent MILLIEN or DAVIS a photograph of an applicant’s driver’s license via cell phone, along with any requested endorsements, such as a school bus endorsement. MILLIEN or DAVIS then completed the applicant’s knowledge test. They used their cell phones to conduct online research to answer test questions. For example, one on occasion, MILLIEN visited webpages on brake inspection, vehicle fires, hazardous materials, and how to stop a skidding trailer. Similarly, on one occasion, DAVIS conducted online searches for emergency-controlled braking, hydraulic brake failure, and pre-trip vehicle inspections.
After MILLIEN or DAVIS falsified the test results, ALHATTAB would bring the applicant to the Donaldsonville OMV office, where MILLIEN or DAVIS issued a commercial learner’s permit based on the fraudulent scores. MILLIEN and DAVIS allowed ALHATTAB to bring applicants into the OMV office through a non-public side door and permitted him access to non-public areas. On some occasions, ALHATTAB even went behind the counter and operated the OMV camera to take applicants’ photographs for the permits. ALHATTAB paid MILLIEN and DAVIS in cash and provided them with meals.
After passing the knowledge test and obtaining a commercial learner’s permit, most CDL applicants are required to complete entry‑level driver training, which includes demonstrating proficiency in operating a commercial vehicle on public roads.
To bypass the training requirement, ALHATTAB bribed PARSONS and BURNS, each of whom operated a truck‑driver training business. ALHATTAB typically sent PARSONS or BURNS a photograph of an applicant’s commercial learner’s permit via cell phone, thereby providing the information to create false training records. PARSONS and BURNS, in exchange for payments from ALHATTAB, reported in a federal database that applicants successfully completed training when, in fact, no training occurred.
The final major step in the CDL process is the skills test, administered by state‑authorized examiners who are agents of the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections. Federal regulations require the skills test to include a pre‑trip vehicle inspection, vehicle control skills, and safety‑related on‑road driving skills.
To defeat the skills test requirement, ALHATTAB again bribed PARSONS and BURNS, who, in addition to being trainers, were certified by Louisiana to administer the test. They falsely reported to the State that applicants passed the skills test when the applicants had not taken it. Early in the scheme, ALHATTAB would pose as an applicant and drive the test vehicle to make it appear that PARSONS was conducting a legitimate test. Eventually, ALHATTAB and PARSONS concluded that such precautions were unnecessary, and thereafter PARSONS routinely entered fraudulent test results with neither ALHATTAB nor the applicant present. On some occasions, PARSONS paid another examiner, defendant ROBERTS, to assist by creating fake score sheets to support PARSONS’s fraudulent test entries.
After an applicant received false skills test scores, ALHATTAB typically alerted MILLIEN or DAVIS that the applicant would be returning to the OMV office to obtain the CDL. Because many applicants were not proficient in English, ALHATTAB sometimes informed MILLIEN and DAVIS of the language barrier. For example, on one occasion he texted DAVIS that an applicant “is outside [the OMV office] to get his CDL” and “No English,” meaning the applicant did not speak English.
In August 2023, ALHATTAB and PARSONS, who had been in the scheme for years, met with BURNS at ALHATTAB’s restaurant to discuss BURNS joining. BURNS initially agreed to compensation of $400 per fraudulent skills test entry. However, BURNS later complained that the amount was too low, texting ALHATTAB that this was why BURNS “only agreed to 3 or 4 [false skills test entries] per week.” ALHATTAB then agreed to increase BURNS’s payment to $500 per entry and to assign BURNS more skills tests to enter.
To conceal the scheme, PARSONS and BURNS occasionally rescheduled purported skills tests to avoid the appearance that applicants tested in bad weather. For example, in February 2021, when asked whether an applicant was “good to go” to the OMV, PARSONS texted ALHATTAB who replied, “Naw, we couldn’t do any testing today because of the frozen roads up here. I couldn’t pass him, it wouldn’t look right.” Similarly, in December 2023, BURNS texted ALHATTAB, “I had to cancel test today. Raining bad. Will reset Tuesday.”
Text messages showed a desire to increase the volume of applicants. For example, in January 2021, ALHATTAB told PARSONS that he had approximately 20 individuals seeking CDLs and that “[t]his year it will be a good year,” to which PARSONS replied, “Heck yeah”; ALHATTAB texted PARSONS, “I have to[o] many” applicants to which PARSONS replied, “That's a good thing”; and PARSONS texted, “Keep them coming!” to which ALHATTAB replied, “Will do.” Similarly, in December 2023, ALHATTAB and BURNS discussed targeting out‑of‑state applicants, whom they believed would pay more. BURNS texted, “My original plan funnel people from Texas and Florida” and “Get it set up and we roll”; ALHATTAB replied, “the door is open now to Texas the guy you did has over 15 guys they have permit”; and BURNS texted, “Sweet!”; “line em up” and “send some to [PARSONS] so we spread it around.”
From August 2020 through February 2024, ALHATTAB caused at least 124 people to fraudulently receive CDLs. During that time, MILLIEN issued at least 108 commercial learner’s permits in exchange for payments from ALHATTAB. Also, during that period, PARSONS caused at least 118 people to fraudulently receive CDLs by providing each person with a false training entry, or a false skills test entry, or both. In early 2023, ROBERTS created false score sheets for PARSONS on seven occasions. From August 2023 through January 2024, BURNS caused at least 18 people to obtain fraudulent CDLs by providing each person with a false skills test entry, and, for some of them, also providing false training entries. From March 2023 through February 2024, DAVIS issued at least 14 commercial learner’s permits in exchange for payments from ALHATTAB.
The six defendants each pleaded guilty to Bribery Concerning Programs Receiving Federal Funds, which is punishable by up to 10 years’ imprisonment, up to three years of supervised release, up to a $250,000 fine, and a $100 mandatory special assessment fee. Sentencing is set for October 28, 2026, for ALHATTAB, PARSONS, and ROBERTS; for December 2, 2026, for DAVIS; and December 9, 2026, for BURNS and MILLIEN.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Department of Transportation – Office of Inspector General investigated this case.
U.S. Attorney Courcelle thanked the Louisiana State Office of Inspector General and Louisiana Public Safety Services for their valuable assistance in the investigation.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Chandra Menon of the Public Integrity Unit is in charge of the prosecution.
Contact
Shane M. Jones
Public Information Officer
Source: U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Louisiana
