Miami-Dade workers accused of scheme to bypass commercial driver’s license test

Three Miami-Dade employees were arrested on felony charges after they allegedly schemed to bypass the exams needed to obtain commercial driver’s licenses, the county’s tax collector, Dariel Fernandez, said in a Tuesday statement.

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Florida’s Office of the Attorney General determined that Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department employees Matthew Howard Jr., 35, and Keith Jones, 36, failed to pass a required commercial driver’s license test, the statement said. Then, they paid a Miami-Dade County Office of the Tax Collector employee, Vanessa Roberts, 34, to bypass the exam.

Roberts is accused of falsely processing the license applications in the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles’ system as qualifying out-of-state transfers, which allow drivers with valid credentials in other states to skip testing in Florida, the statement said.

Investigators claim neither Howard nor Jones qualified for that treatment. The trio was charged with official misconduct and unlawful compensation or reward for official behavior, the statement said, and Roberts is no longer employed by the Tax Collector’s Office.

It “puts everyone on our roads at risk” when a person behind the wheel bypasses safety requirements, Fernandez said.

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“When I took office, I made clear that protecting the integrity of this office and restoring public trust would be a priority,” Fernandez said in the statement. “When wrongdoing is uncovered, we act. Anyone who abuses public authority for personal gain must be held accountable.”

His office is reviewing related records and transactions and will take any additional actions warranted by its findings, the statement said. This remains an active investigation.

Howard, Jones and Roberts were each being held on a $12,500 bond Tuesday at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, jail records show. Jones’ public defender didn’t immediately respond to a request for comments. Howard and Roberts didn’t have attorneys listed yet.

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