Ellariy Medvednik pleaded guilty to conspiracy to unlawfully produce Florida driver’s licenses and commercial driver’s licenses in U.S. District Court in Orland, Fla.
Originally charged in August, Medvednik, along with Natalia Dontsova, Adrian Salari and Clarence Davis were affiliated with the Larex commercial truck driving school that marketed to Russian speakers online. For a $1,800 to $5,000 fee, the group would falsify documents saying the prospective driver was a resident of Florida to obtain a driver’s license.
The group would also cheat the written CDL exam using covert communications to supply answers to the students during the test. Larex would finish off the scam by arranging for students to complete the basic control skills and road test using the same CDL testing contractor who would pass them for $75 per student above his posted rate.
The Florida Highway Patrol and Orange County Florida Tax Collector’s office discovered the scheme when it found that several hundred people were applying for CDL’s using the same residential address in Seminole County.
At least 600 individuals were identified as having used Larex’s services and Davis as a tester. If convicted on all accounts, each defendant could face a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison.
