Summary

On August 7, 2012, Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Joseph L. Rigby, Mississippi Department of Public Safety (DPS), Highway Patrol (MHP), Director, Driver Services, and Rene Morris, former clerk, DPS, pled guilty in U.S. District Court, Jackson, Mississippi, for their involvement in a commercial driver’s license (CDL) testing scheme.  Our investigation disclosed that several Mississippi State troopers assisted commercial driver’s license (CDL) applicants by creating false CDL test scores.  This enabled applicants to obtain CDLs and operational hazardous materials and passenger endorsements, without meeting the required minimum state and federal testing mandates.  Additionally, troopers altered CDL driver records to reduce speeding infractions to lesser offenses and altered guilty judicial adjudications on drivers’ records to prevent drivers from receiving judgments or license suspensions.  OIG is currently working with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and DPS to correct altered driver records identified during this investigation. 

This investigation was conducted jointly with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, with assistance from FMCSA.