Lastest Limo News
GLOBAL LIMO, INC. AND OWNER CONVICTED
McALLEN, TX – Global Limo, Inc., a Pharr, Texas, passenger bus company, and its owner, James H. Maples, 65, were convicted by a jury’s verdict today for circumventing safety regulations, announced United States Attorney Don DeGabrielle.
Global Limo, Inc. and its owner, James Maples were charged in January 2006 in a three-count superseding indictment with conspiracy to circumvent safety regulations by falsifying driver time records, failing to inspect their buses to ensure safe operation, and failing to require daily vehicle inspection reports. Today, after approximately five hours of deliberation and a seven-day trial, a McAllen jury found Global Limo, Inc. guilty of all three counts of the indictment. Maples was convicted to two of the three counts and acquitted of the conspiracy charge.
With its decision today, the jury found that Global Limo, Inc. conspired with others to falsify driver time records to circumvent federal regulations mandating a minimum consecutive 8-hour rest periods for bus drivers. Between May 6, 2005, through July 9, 2005, Global Limo routinely assigned two drivers to one bus with no sleeper berth for long cross-country trips. When not driving, the co-driver traveled in one of the passenger seats and falsely classified himself/herself as “off duty,” instead of the appropriate “on-duty not driving” classification required by FMCSA regulations. The false claims of “off duty” status created the appearance that the drivers were obtaining the minimum rest hours required by FMCSA after 15 hours of on-duty time. Instead, the drivers were forced to drive long stretches of time without appropriate rest to comply with the travel schedules required by Global Limo. Global Limo maintained the false statements in their records for, among other things, FMCSA inspection. Global Limo, a corporation, faces up to $500,000 in fines for its convictions.
Both Maples and his passenger bus company were convicted by the jury of knowingly and willfully failing to inspect and maintain Global Limo buses between May 2005 through August 24, 2006, thus failing to ensure safe and proper operating condition of its buses at all times. Evidence at trial proved the passenger buses were poorly maintained and placed in service with significant mechanical problems, including but not limited to inadequate brakes, compromised steering, lack of wheel fasteners, and unlubricated wheel bearings. A corporate defendant faces up to $200,000 in fines for this conviction. Maples faces up to one (1) year in federal prison, without parole, and a $100,000 fine.
Lastly, the jury found that Maples and Global Limo knowingly and willfully failed to require Global Limo bus drivers to complete driver vehicle inspection reports at the end of the work day between the same May and August 2006 time period. These daily vehicle inspections are intended to identify any problems affecting the safe operation of the buses and to affect timely repair. During trial, the United States presented evidence that proved the absence of nearly any of these reports in Global Limo files. Additionally, the evidence proved that problems cited on the few that did exist were not repaired. This conviction carries a maximum penalty of one (1) year in federal prison, without parole, and a $100,000 fine for Maples. Global Limo, Inc. faces a maximum $200,000 fine.
Sentencing has been set for December 14, 2006, at 9:30 a.m. by United States District Judge Ricardo H. Hinojosa, who presided over the trial. Maples will be permitted to remain free on bond pending his sentencing hearing.
Global Limo, Inc. operated the bus in which 23 residents of a Houston area nursing home died following an explosion in September 2005. The bus was traveling north toward Dallas, Texas, evacuating the residents from Houston, the anticipated landfall site of Hurricane Rita. A problem with a rear wheel bearing on the bus is believed to have caused a fire. The fire is believed to have ignited oxygen, carried aboard the bus for its elderly passengers. In the wake of the fatal accident, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) ordered Global Limo and Maples to discontinue their bus operations after determining that such operations had “reached the point where they constituted an imminent hazard to the public.”
The investigation leading to the filing of criminal charges against Global Limo, Inc. and James Maples was the result of the combined efforts of the Department of Transportation - Office of Inspector General and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. The case is being prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney John Kinchen.