Philly CDL Instructor Jailed For Bribing Officials
by Alex Lloyd Gross
Driving school teachers want their students to pass all tests and get a license. It’s great word of mouth that a student attended a specific school and passed. What if there was another way your students could get a license, without taking any tests,?
Vladimir Tsymbalenko, 53, the former owner of Vlad’s CDL School in Philadelphia, PA, was sentenced to 57 months’ imprisonment, three years of supervised release, and a $5,000 fine by United States District Court Judge Jeffrey L. Schmehl for bribing a Commercial Driver’s License examiner to pass some of Tsymbalenko’s students who did not actually pass, or never even took, the CDL examination, and for asking a witness to lie.
A Commercial Drivers License is needed to operate large trucks and buses. It’s very different than a car. There are things you must understand, like air brakes, and driving in reverse. It’s vastly different than cars and small trucks.
“The last thing anyone should want on our roads are people behind the wheel of big rigs or school buses with bogus CDL certifications,” said U.S. Attorney Romero. “Licensure standards are intended to ensure that someone has the training and skills needed to safely move these huge vehicles and their cargo — human or otherwise — from Point A to Point B. As Tsymbalenko’s nearly five-year prison sentence shows, my office and our partners will work to hold accountable anyone seeking to evade such critical government regulations.”
“This sentencing of Vladimir Tsymbalenko demonstrates the Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General’s (DOT-OIG) commitment to pursuing individuals in the motor carrier industry who are willing to compromise the safety of the traveling public for personal gain,” stated Christopher A. Scharf, Regional Special Agent in Charge for DOT-OIG. “Working with our agency, law enforcement, and prosecutorial partners, we remain focused in our efforts to prevent, detect, and prosecute fraud schemes that compromise the integrity of DOT’s safety programs.”