Husband and Wife Sentenced in Phony Commercial Driver’s License Scheme

PHILADELPHIA—A federal judge today sentenced Vitaliy Kroshnev, 49, and his wife Tatyana, 46, of Richboro, Pennsylvania, for their participation in a scheme to provide out-of-state residents with Pennsylvania driver’s licenses and Pennsylvania commercial driver’s licenses (CDL). Vitaliy Kroshnev was sentenced to 30 months in prison; Tatyana was sentenced to 24 months in prison. The defendants owned and operated the “International Training Academy,” arranging for hundreds of non-residents of Pennsylvania to fraudulently obtain Pennsylvania commercial driver’s licenses between 2007 and 2010. The couple pleaded guilty to conspiracy to produce and aiding and abetting the production of an identification document without lawful authority. Vitaliy Kroshnev also pleaded guilty to making a material false statement.

The Kroshnevs paid other members of the conspiracy for allowing their home addresses to be used by ITA clients, who resided out-of-state, to submit to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation as false proof of Pennsylvania residency.

In addition to the prison terms, U.S. District Court Judge Norma L. Shapiro ordered three years’ supervised release for each defendant and a forfeiture money judgment of $445,450.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General. It was prosecuted Assistant United States Attorneys Frank Labor, Michelle Morgan, and Trial Attorney Margaret Vierbuchen, U.S. Department of Justice, Organized Crime and Gang Section.