The owner of a Kansas City trucking company pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday to conspiring to provide fraudulent commercial driver's licenses to Somali and Bosnian nationals at a trucking school in West Plains, Mo.

Howard E. Schneider, 40, is the owner of H.E. Schneider Trucking Company in Kansas City, Kan., and involved in the operation of Muslim Brothers and Sisters (MBS), a trucking company that operated a truck driving training school located in Kansas City, Mo.

Schneider admitted he was part of a ring that provided CDLs for trucking students at the South Central Career Center Truck Driver Training School (SCCC) in West Plains, Mo.

Schneider admitted he assisted co-conspirators in directing individuals to SCCC in order to fraudulently obtain commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs). Schneider also took the CDL driving test at SCCC on Jan. 24, 2005, and knew that the test was not legitimately administered.

Three co-defendants have also pleaded guilty. Orbin Dale May, 64, of West Plains, Ahmed Muhidin Sharif, 28, a citizen of Somalia living in Kansas City, Mo., and Abdiwahab Mohamud Mohamed, 38, a citizen of Somalia living in Minneapolis, Minn., have pleaded guilty to their roles in the conspiracy.

May was employed at SCCC, which at that time was a division of the West Plains R-7 School District, to train truck drivers and administer CDL driving tests.

A commercial driver’s license (CDL) allows a person to operate heavy commercial trucks – such as 18-wheel tractors and trailers – and buses on the public highways. In order to obtain a CDL, a driver-applicant must first pass a written test. If the driver-applicant passes the written test, he is issued a temporary permit and must then take the practical “skills test” or “competency test” administered either by the Missouri State Highway Patrol or a third-party tester, such as SCCC. This second test requires the driver-applicant to physically demonstrate his knowledge and ability to inspect and safely drive a commercial vehicle. These tests are required and regulated by both federal and state laws.

May admitted that he gave incomplete or inadequate driving tests and fraudulently certified that applicants had legitimately passed the driving tests. During the course of the conspiracy and in furtherance of the conspiracy, May submitted fraudulent CDL forms, indicating that applicants had successfully completed the competency test, to the SCCC office, which then mailed them to the Missouri Department of Revenue. May would provide the applicant with a copy of the certifying document that could be used to obtain the CDL at a Missouri Department of Revenue office.

May also admitted that he received additional payment (above that which was required under law) to administer the tests, in order to ensure that applicants passed the CDL driving test.

Sharif participated in the conspiracy by transporting students from a truck-driving school to SCCC, knowing that May would fraudulently administer the competency tests. Sharif made about 1! 5 trips in which he transported 70 to 80 students of Somali descent to West Plains in order to fraudulently obtain CDLs. Sharif knew that the tests were being fraudulently administered by May, and observed May give incomplete or inadequate CDL driving t! ests to the students.

Mohamed, who had fraudulently obtained a CDL, directed students from the state of Minnesota in order to obtain fraudulent CDLs.

Under federal statutes, each of the four co-defendants could be subject to a sentence of up to five years in federal prison without parole, plus a fine up to $250,000. Sentencing hearings will be scheduled after the completion of pre-sentence investigations by the United States Probation Office.