Los Angeles Trucking School Owner Pleads Guilty in $4 Million Fraud Against Veteran’s Affairs

The U.S. Attorney’s Office reports that the owner of a Los Angeles based trucking school has pleaded guilty in federal court to charges of bilking the United States Department of Veteran Affairs out of more than $4 million in tuition after falsely certifying that veterans had attended classes that they never took.

Emmit Marshall of Woodland Hills pleaded guilty to five felony counts of wire fraud. He is scheduled to be sentenced before U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson on November 18, where Marshall faces a maximum sentence of 100 years in federal prison.

Marshall admitted in his plea agreement that he and codefendant Robert Waggoner, schemed to defraud the VA. The pair recruited eligible veterans to take trucking classes paid under the Post-9/11 GI Bill. Pursuant to this bill, the VA paid tuition and fees directly to the school at which the veteran enrolled, in addition to, providing a housing allowance. Knowing that a majority of veterans did not enroll in the program, the pair submitted falsified certifications for the collection of federal dollars.

Waggoner is scheduled to go to trial in this case on February 25, 2020.