Trucking news and briefs for Thursday, April 18, 2024:
The former owner of a Philadelphia CDL school has been sentenced to time in prison for bribing a CDL examiner.
United States Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero announced that Vladimir Tsymbalenko, 53, the former owner of Vlad’s CDL School in Philadelphia, was sentenced to 57 months in prison, three years of supervised release, and a $5,000 fine for bribing an examiner to pass some of his students who did not actually pass (never even took in some cases) the CDL examination, and for asking a witness to lie.
On Oct. 11, 2023, Tsymbalenko pleaded guilty to one count of bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds and one count of witness tampering.
“The last thing anyone should want on our roads are people behind the wheel of big rigs or school buses with bogus CDL certifications,” Romero said. “Licensure standards are intended to ensure that someone has the training and skills needed to safely move these huge vehicles and their cargo -- human or otherwise -- from Point A to Point B. As Tsymbalenko’s nearly five-year prison sentence shows, my office and our partners will work to hold accountable anyone seeking to evade such critical government regulations.”
The case was investigated by the Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with the assistance of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and the Pennsylvania State Police, and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney K.T. Newton.
[Related: Colorado retesting 183 CDL drivers after Randy Lopez CDL school shuttered]
