Three people pled guilty this week to taking part in a major commercial driver’s license (CDL) fraud scheme in Louisiana.
According to the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana, Mahmoud Alhattab, Jonathan Parsons, and Marline Roberts each pleaded guilty to one count of bribery concerning federally funded programs on July 29, 2026.
The three suspects were among six people charged in August 2025 for participating in a CDL bribery plot.
“Alhattab stated that between August 2020 and February 2024, he caused at least 124 people to fraudulently obtain CDLs. Parsons agreed that from approximately August 2020 to February 2024, he fraudulently obtained CDLs for at least 118 people by presenting each with a false training entry, a false skills test entry, or both types of false entries. According to investigators, Roberts agreed to creating fraudulent scoring sheets seven times in early 2023 to assist Parsons in creating false skills test reports.
Alhattab, the owner of a restaurant, admitted to being the mastermind of a system in which drivers paid around $5,000 to avoid knowledge testing, entry-level driver training, and skills testing and receive an unearned CDL.
According to officials, Alhattab bribed two Office of Motor Vehicles (OMV) employees in Donaldsonville, Louisiana, as part of the plan. The bribed OMV staff would input the proper knowledge exam answers for the applicants identified by Alhattab. Alhattab would then accompany the applicant to the office, where a commercial learner’s permit (CLP) would be issued.
Alhattab also admitted to bribing two men who own businesses for training truck drivers, including Parsons. Officials claim that Parsons created “false training records” for driver candidates to meet the entry-level driving training standards.
Parsons stated that it was “reported in a federal database that applicants successfully completed training when, in truth, they did not train at all.” Parsons also agreed to falsely reporting that applicants had passed the skills test when, in fact, they had not taken it.
Roberts, the skills test examiner, also admitted to falsifying score sheets to back up Parson’s bogus test findings.
“When a CDL applicant received fraudulent skills test results, Alhattab would usually notify an OMV employee that the applicant was returning to the Donaldsonville OMV office to obtain the CDL. As part of his guilty plea, Alhattab acknowledged that many of the applicants were not fluent in English, and he occasionally advised OMV staff about language challenges. For example, on one occasion, Alhattab texted an OMV employee that an applicant “is outside [the OMV office] to get his CDL” and “no English,” implying that the applicant did not understand English, according to the US Attorney’s Office.
Bribery Concerning Programs Receiving federal funds carries a maximum ten-year prison sentence.
The other suspects charged in this case are awaiting trial.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Office of Inspector General at the United States Department of Transportation investigated this case.
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