Newton Woman Pleads Guilty to Commercial Driver’s License Fraud

Jackson, Miss.  –Tonya Levera Davis, 49, of Newton, pled guilty today before U.S. District Judge Carlton W. Reeves to aggravated identity theft and to making false statements, announced U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst and Department of Transportation, Office of Inspector General Regional Special Agent in Charge Todd Damiani.

Davis was employed by the Mississippi Department of Public Safety, Newton Department of Motor Vehicles, as a driver’s license examiner.  Her employment included the administration of driver’s license applications, both written and computer tests, as well as the administration of Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) testing. Davis was an authorized tester of the written skills portion of the CDL test, but not for the road skills portion.

From June 2016 through May 2018, Davis authorized CDLs to applicants that had not passed the written or road skills portions of the test. She sold CDLs to over 88 unqualified applicants by providing answers to the written skills test.  She would further pass the unqualified applicant and use state issued identification numbers of other third party testers to pass unqualified applicants and issue fraudulent CDLs.

Davis is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Reeves on September 13, 2019, at 8:45 a.m. She faces a maximum penalty of 5 years in federal prison and a $250,000.00 fine.

The case was investigated by the United States Department of Transportation-Office of Inspector General, Federal Bureau of Investigation, 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.