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Georgia man's vehement disregard of FMCSA regs nets him 12 months probation

WASHINGTON — A Georgia man’s participation in a scheme developed to circumvent an imminent hazard out-of-service order has landed him a sentence of 12 months on probation.

The sentence was imposed on Corey Daniels Oct. 24 in the U.S. District Court in Macon, Georgia, according to the Department of Transportation Office of the Inspector General.

Investigations by the OIG and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration revealed that in October 2008 Devasko Dewayne Lewis, doing business as Lewis Trucking Co., was placed under an order to cease all operations because of serious violations discovered during an FMCSA compliance review which was conducted after a fatal crash in Alabama on Oct. 3, 2008.

Subsequently, Lewis formed DDL Transport, which was ultimately placed under another OOS order.

In May 2012, Lewis pleaded guilty to violating the orders and was sent to jail for 90 days to be followed by 12 months supervised release.

At around the time he pleaded guilty and before his sentencing, Lewis obtained DOT numbers for Eagle Transport and Eagle Trans using the identity of friends, including Daniels, and failed to reveal his involvement to FMCSA as owner-operator of the companies.

After reporting to federal prison in November 2012, Lewis continued operating Eagle Trans with the assistance of Daniels and others.

The Oct. 3, 2008, accident occurred on U.S. Highway 82 about 20 miles southeast of Montgomery, Alabama, when a Lewis Trucking Co. tractor-trailer driven by Andrew David Carter attempted to pass another tractor on a two-lane road, crossing the solid yellow center line as the two trucks neared the top of the hill.

The Lewis truck hit a van full of Alabama Department of Correction’s job applicants traveling in the opposite direction in the oncoming lane, killing the driver and six occupants.

Within hours of the accident, FMCSA launched a compliance review (CR) and found that Lewis could produce a driver qualification file only on himself.

Neither could he produce logbooks for any drivers other than himself except for an incomplete set for 17 days in July 2008.

Further investigation revealed that Carter had an extensive history of moving violations during the 10 months preceding the crash, including improper lane change, speeding and reckless driving at 87 mph, speeding, failure to obey traffic control devices, driving with an inoperable required lamp, not having a current record-of-duty status, operating a CMV without periodic inspection, violating the 14-hour rule, failing to secure load and a sleeper berth requirement violation.

In addition, the OOS issued by the FMCSA noted that Carter had been convicted of illegal possession of drugs several years before the accident and that his driver’s license had been suspended on five separate occasions.

According to the 2008 OOS, after failing to produce many of the records requested by FMCSA investigators, Lewis said, “Y’all are just going to have to fine me or put me out-of-service ‘cause I don’t have nothing.”

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