South Carolina official indicted in CDL scheme

A former South Carolina official has fled a federal court’s jurisdiction after a grand jury indicted her on multiple counts related to issuing commercial drivers licenses to unqualified applicants.

The U.S. district court in Columbia indicted Brenda Kay Poston on July 19. The South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles discovered Poston had aided in creating false CDL test scores and operational enhancements, such as hazmat, by entering false information into department databases.

The SCDMV and the Office of Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Transportation conducted a historical review of driver records. That analysis identified 19 drivers with suspicious or unverifiable credentials dating back to 2004. Poston confessed to helping drivers receive 19 CDLs, while 13 drivers admitted to obtaining their CDL or endorsements fraudulently.

Officials instituted Administrative Revocations of the drivers’ credentials and offered re-examinations of drivers believed to have received fraudulent CDLs. They fired Poston, who remains at large.