McComb Man Pleads Guilty to Commercial Driver’s License Fraud

Jackson, Miss. – Derrious Emadrick Dillon, 37, of McComb, pled guilty yesterday in U.S. District Court to aggravated identity theft, announced U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst and Regional Special Agent in Charge Marlies Gonzalez of the U.S. Department of Transportation, Office of Inspector General.

Dillon previously worked for a company that provided training and certification to individuals seeking commercial driver’s licenses ("CDLs"). When his employment was terminated in 2014, he nonetheless continued providing paperwork to those whom wanted a CDL. Dillon obtained a list of authorized CDL instructors and their identification numbers in the State of Mississippi. He used names and identification numbers of those authorized CDL instructors to prepare fraudulent paperwork for individuals seeking CDLs. This fraudulent paperwork would be given to an individual seeking to obtain a CDL in exchange for payment to Dillon. Such fraudulent paperwork would be presented by these individuals to the Mississippi Department of Public Safety in order to secure a commercial driver’s license. Dillon received $200-$400 for each set of fraudulent paperwork. A review of the commercial drivers’ paperwork in Mississippi showed that some of the applicants could not have achieved the results on the paperwork. Some Commercial Driver’s License holders were interviewed and said they had never taken the test and just paid Dillon for the paperwork.

"These types of crimes endanger our children, our families and the public at large on our roadways. When a person chooses to exchange our safety for their personal benefit, they will be prosecuted and held accountable. I commend our law enforcement partners for their excellent work to ensure our roads are and remain safe," said U.S. Attorney Hurst.

"This investigation demonstrates our commitment to protecting the efficacy of DOT’s commercial driver’s license regulations and advancing safety on the roads by ensuring that only qualified individuals obtain CDLs," stated Marlies Gonzalez, Regional Special Agent-In-Charge at U.S. DOT-OIG. "Working with our law enforcement and prosecutorial partners, we will continue our vigorous efforts to prevent, detect and prosecute fraud schemes which endanger the traveling public."

Dillon is scheduled to be sentenced by Senior U.S. District Judge David C. Bramlette III, on April 10, 2018, in Jackson, Mississippi. He is facing a maximum penalty of two years in prison and a 250,000 fine.

The case was investigated by the United States Department of Transportation-Office of Inspector General, Mississippi Department of Public Safety, Mississippi Bureau of Investigation and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Erin Chalk.