Florida County Employees Charged in CDL Fraud Scheme

Three Miami-Dade County employees have been arrested and charged with felony counts of official misconduct and unlawful compensation for their alleged roles in a commercial driver license (CDL) fraud scheme. The scheme involved using the state’s CDL reciprocity process to bypass required testing for out-of-state license holders. According to investigators, two Water and Sewer Department employees, Keith Garrod Jones and Matthew Howard Jr., paid a Tax Collector employee, Vanessa Erika Roberts, to process their CDL applications as out-of-state transfers, despite them failing required knowledge and skills tests. Roberts allegedly processed the applications in the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles system, allowing Jones and Howard to receive Florida CDLs without completing the required examinations. The scheme was discovered by the county inspector general’s office, which alerted detectives with the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office and county public corruption investigators. The three employees were arrested on August 25 and face up to 15 years in prison and a $10,000 fine if convicted. The case remains under investigation, with officials reviewing related records and transactions to determine whether additional action is warranted.