FMCSA Field Supervisor Pleads Guilty to Accepting Bribes

A Buffalo, N.Y.-based Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration field office supervisor has pleaded guilty to accepting more than $41,000 in bribes to provide “inside information” and to ensure that some Canadian motor carriers received satisfactory safety ratings on FMCSA audits and inspections, according to court documents.

According to a plea agreement, the supervisor, James Wood, 44, admitted to accepting the cash bribes from 2008 to 2011 from a Canadian safety consultant who worked for several Canadian trucking companies, which FMCSA declined to name.

Neither the name of the safety consultant, a cooperating government witness, nor any of the trucking companies were revealed in criminal charging documents or in Wood’s plea agreement.

Because prosecutors lack jurisdiction, the U.S. has not charged the Canadian motor carriers nor the safety consultant with any crimes, but did give their names to Canadian authorities, said Trini Ross, an Assistant U.S. Attorney with the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of New York.

Ross told Transport Topics that the Canadian truckers “definitely had knowledge” of the bribes paid by the safety consultant.

“Our primary concern was that we have standards for trucks to be on the roads in the United States,” Ross said. “If someone’s taking bribes and therefore not upholding the standards it can lead to unsafe trucks being on the roads.”

The Buffalo office where Wood was a supervisor has regulatory jurisdiction in an area stretching from Buffalo, N.Y., to Ontario, Canada.