BOISE, Idaho – An Idaho man was sentenced in federal court to 18 months in prison and two years probation for making false statements to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
Aaron G. Hynes of Kuna, Idaho, was also ordered to pay a $100 special assessment and $32,439 in restitution.
In July 2017, Hynes pleaded guilty to filing a false application with FMCSA for the purpose of obtaining a USDOT registration number.
Hynes solicited assistance from computer programmers to create a program that would automatically fill out at least 10,000 applications for USDOT numbers on the FMCSA website, using fictitious names, addresses and telephone numbers of applicants and company officials.
His purpose was to fraudulently obtain USDOT numbers and sell them to motor carriers for a profit.
In October 2015, Hynes submitted approximately 2,100 fictitious applications for USDOT numbers. The submittal of the applications caused FMCSA to register the applicants and issue approximately 2,100 USDOT numbers.
Hyne’s activities caused FMCSA to lose $51,389, more than half of it attributable to the time and resources FMSCA expended to identify and deactivate the fraudulently obtained USDOT numbers.
