Indictment against two Missouri men alleges truck license scheme

ST. LOUIS -- The owner of a St. Louis truck driving school and a driver's license examiner have been charged in a scheme that put hundreds of drivers on the road with questionable commercial licenses, according to a federal indictment.

The indictment alleges that Mustafa Redzic funneled about 600 of his students to examiner Troy Parr between January 2004 and April 2005. The indictment was made public Friday in federal court at Cape Girardeau.

Parr, 51, of Dexter, Mo., was charged with mail and wire fraud, and conspiracy to defraud the United States. Redzic, 39, of south St. Louis County, was indicted on those charges and bribery.

Parr could not be reached for comment. His wife said he is now a truck driver and was returning from a trip. She denied that he accepted bribes.

Redzic's attorney, Bill Margulis, said the allegations were untrue and that Redzic plans on fighting them.

The indictment claims Redzic paid thousands of dollars in bribes so students of his Bosna Truck Driving School, many of whom were Bosnian immigrants who spoke little English, could take a shorter, easier test they were almost guaranteed to pass.

Prosecutors said two students never showed up but passed anyway.

The indictment says Redzic agreed to pay Parr's Sikeston, Mo., testing facility the maximum fee, and rewarded Parr with bribes, expenses and the promise of an eventual partnership to share in the school's "considerable profits."

The 600 students paid tuition of $1.8 million, the indictment says.

Margulis said the school is still open but is now known as the 50 Stars Truck Driver Training Academy.

Federal prosecutor Catherine Hanaway issued a statement that federal and state officials were trying to identify "hundreds of unqualified drivers." Federal and state investigators have been scrutinizing, and prosecuting, driver's license examiners and testing facilities in recent years.

Two private facilities in Missouri, one in Sikeston and one in West Plains, have been closed, and the law has been tightened for third-party testers.

About 2,000 truck drivers have been ordered to retake tests or surrender their licenses.

Last fall, the owners or managers of two truck driver schools, one in Kansas City and one in West Plains, were indicted in U.S. District Court in Springfield, along with 13 others, in an alleged bribes-for-license arrangement. That case is pending.

In April, Adil Alagic, former owner of a St. Louis driving school, was sentenced to 18 months in prison for bribing three Missouri State employees to award about 70 undeserved licenses.