OMV employee accused of accepting bribes for CDLs

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - An Office of Motor Vehicles employee is behind bars for allegedly issuing unearned Commercial Driver’s Licenses in exchange for cash.

Troopers with the Louisiana Department of Public Safety arrested Reggie James, 26, of Baton Rouge, on Wednesday, May 11. He was charged with one count of malfeasance in office, six counts of injuring public records, and one count of public bribery.

An arrest warrant for James states that the Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles complained to Louisiana State Police Insurance Fraud and Auto Theft about an employee of its Baton Rouge location being paid $800 cash in exchange for processing a CDL for someone who never took a test.

“We got referred this investigation from the Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles,” said Sgt. Dustin Dwight with LSP Troop A. “They initiated the audit and discovered some things they decided to relay to our investigators.”

Following an internal audit and investigation, James was found to have allegedly issued a total of six CDLs and/ or Commercial Learner’s Permits to customers who either did not take the test or failed the test, according to his arrest warrant.

On at least one occasion, James accepted $1,300 cash in exchange for issuing a CDL to a customer who did not pass the required tests, according to Louisiana State Police.

Is it troubling for you that there’s a state employee who was doing something like this kind of right under the noses of the people there at OMV?

“Yeah, I would say that’s frustrating for sure,” replied Dwight.

The OMV reportedly placed James on administration leave.

According to the arrest warrant, these crimes were committed between February 4 and March 25.

Individuals accused of purchasing a license without a test have been contacted by the OMV, and they have a limited amount of time to respond before the license is suspended.

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