RJO White-Collar Defense Attorneys Publish Law360 Article on DOJ’s New Trucking Industry Enforcement Initiative

Rogers Joseph O’Donnell, PC shareholders Gregory P. Rosen and Lauren Kramer Sujeeth, along with of counsel William G. Hart, published a Law360 article examining a new interagency task force targeting fraud in the trucking industry.

The article, “How Trucking Cos. Can Tackle Risk From New DOJ Task Force,” examines the Joint Task Force Crossroads of America, announced Aug. 31 by the Department of Justice, Department of Transportation, Department of Homeland Security and the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud. The initiative combines Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration investigations of driver-training providers, DHS inspections of driving schools and DOJ prosecutorial resources, and it marks a shift in how the government pursues trucking-related enforcement, moving beyond testers and driving schools to carriers and employers themselves.

The authors write that carriers face exposure under several statutes beyond immigration law, including Title 18 identity-theft and conspiracy provisions, Title 49’s commercial driver’s license framework and, for carriers doing business with the federal government, the False Claims Act. They outline seven steps carriers and logistics companies can take now to identify and manage their risk, including auditing driver files against the public Training Provider Registry, verifying English-language-proficiency documentation, conducting I-9 audits and building a notice-of-inspection response protocol.

Rosen is a shareholder in RJO’s White-Collar Criminal Defense and Government Contracts practice groups. He previously served as an assistant U.S. attorney and chief of the Federal Major Crimes Section in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.

Sujeeth is a shareholder and chair of RJO’s White-Collar Criminal Defense practice group. She represents companies and individuals facing regulatory investigations and state and federal criminal charges.

Hart is of counsel in RJO’s White-Collar Criminal Defense and Government Contracts practice groups. He previously served as a senior assistant U.S. attorney in the Fraud, Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section of the Criminal Division at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.

Read a PDF of the full article here.