Two foreign nationals have been convicted and a third charged in federal cases built on the same playbook: buy or steal the identity of a U.S. citizen, then use it to obtain — and keep — a commercial driver license.
The cases, brought by U.S. Attorney's offices in Kentucky, Connecticut and South Dakota, involve a Mexican national who obtained a Kentucky CDL after purchasing the identity of a Puerto Rican citizen, a Nigerian man whose photo appeared on a Texas CDL issued under another person's name, and a Peruvian national accused of stealing a Puerto Rican identity to maintain a Connecticut CDL.
A decade under someone else's name
The Kentucky case shows how deep these schemes can run. Joel Sanchez-Mendoza, 39, bought the identity of a man named Luis Morales back in 2016. Under that name he was arrested, served a federal sentence, married, started a family — and took a job at a Kentucky transportation company that promoted him to truck driver and even paid for his CDL. The scheme unraveled only when a probation officer discovered another Luis Morales with the same Social Security number.
Why it matters for carriers
A driver working under a stolen identity is an invisible liability: the MVR, drug-testing history and criminal record you screened belong to someone else. In a nuclear-verdict era, negligent-hiring exposure starts at the identity check.
What hiring desks can tighten today
Verify Social Security numbers against name and date of birth, not just format
Cross-check CDL photos and records across prior states of licensure
Treat mismatched employment-history gaps as a red flag, not paperwork noise
Re-verify identity at promotion into a driving role, not only at first hire
Hire drivers you can actually verify
Qrylo connects carriers with a verified trucking community — real people, real work history.