Three Florida residents have been charged with conspiracy to aid and abet the unlawful production of commercial driver licenses.

Ellariy Medvednik, Natalia Dontsova, Adrian Salari, and Clarence Davis were affiliated Larex, Inc., a commercial truck driving school that marketed itself to Russian-speakers online. For $2,000 out of state individuals would contact Medvednik to arrange for Larex’s services.

They would then travel to Florida to obtain the CDL despite that fact that to obtain a Florida CDL a driver must first have a Florida driver’s license. Medvednik, Dontsova and Salari are charged with conspiring to provide false documentation that the individual’s resided with them so they could obtain Florida driver’s license.

After falsifying each individual’s residency, Larex then assisted them further by using covert communication equipment to provide students with answers to the written portion of the CDL Exam. For the vehicle inspection tests, basic control skills tests and road tests, Larex hired Davis, a third-party tester authorized by the State of Florida, to administer the tests, passing drivers who would have otherwise failed.

Davis received about $75 per student above his posted rate from Medvednik and at least 600 individuals were identified as having used Larex and Davis as a tester.

If convicted on all accounts, each defendant faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison.  The case is being investigated by the Department of Transportation’s Office of the Inspector General, The FBI, Homeland Security and the Florida Highway Patrol.