The owner of a suspected chameleon carrier, DDL Transport, LLC, was indicted in Columbus, Ga. on several counts stemming from non-disclosure of information and operating with under an out-of-service order.


Michael J. Moore, United States Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia, says that Devasko Dewayne Lewis , age 33, of Cordele, Georgia, was taken into federal custody and appeared before United States Magistrate Judge Stephen Hyles in Columbus, Georgia for initial appearance and bond proceedings on December 21, 2011.

Lewis and his trucking company, DDL Transport, LLC, were indicted by a federal grand jury in November 2011, on one count of making a False Statement and seven counts of Continuing Operation after Imposition of an Out-Of-Service Order.

The indictment alleges that Lewis made a false statement in an application for motor carrier authority, Form OP-1, filed on July 12, 2011, with the U.S. Department of Transportation. On that application, Lewis stated that he not had had a relationship with another motor carrier within the last three years despite having operated Lewis Trucking Company, which had been ordered out of service based safety violations which posed imminent safety hazard.

The remaining seven counts allege that Lewis and DDL Transport, LLC, knowingly and willfully operated commercial motor vehicles in Georgia on seven occasions although they were precluded from operations based on the an imminent hazard out-of-service order issued because of numerous record-keeping and safety violations in their trucking operations posed an imminent threat to public safety.

The False Statement charge carries a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment, a maximum fine of $250,000, and up to three years supervised release. Each of the counts of Continuing Operation after Imposition of an Out-of-Service Order carries a maximum penalty of one year imprisonment, a maximum fine of $25,000, and up to one year of supervised release.

An indictment is only an accusation and the accused is presumed innocent until proven guilty at trial.