Summary

On February 3, 2011, a federal grand jury in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, indicted Valerjis Belovs and charged him with 15-counts of making false statements to the U.S. Department of Transportation. The indictment alleges that Mr. Belovs falsified his driver daily logbooks to conceal the fact that he drove in excess of the allowable driving hours without the required period of rest.

The federal charges are related to a fatality accident on US-76 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in which one person died and five others were seriously injured when a truck operated by Mr. Belovs plowed into stopped traffic.

Mr. Belovs previously pled guilty to various state charges including one count of vehicular homicide. OIG analysis of Mr. Belovs' regulated driver logbooks revealed that he was driving in excess of the maximum allowable hours of operating a commercial vehicle at the time of the accident. According to the indictment, Mr. Belovs made fifteen false entries in his logbooks. In one example, Mr. Belovs recorded that he was in a sleeper berth in Wyethville, Virginia, when he was actually driving in Pennsylvania.

This is a joint investigation with the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office and the Pennsylvania State Police. FMSCA assisted with the investigation.

Note: Indictments, informations, and criminal complaints are only accusations by the government, all defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.