A Texas trucking company owner is facing multiple charges – including conspiracy to defraud the United States – after being indicted by a federal grand jury in June.
On June 20, the U.S. Department of Justice announced an 18-count indictment against Shaquan Jelks had been unsealed – outlining years of alleged “operation of illegal and unsafe trucking companies.”
According to court documents, Jelks managed and controlled multiple trucking companies, despite being declared an imminent hazard by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration in February 2022.
The indictment states that Jelks “repeatedly” violated the imminent-hazard order through chameleon carriers. Prosecutors contend that beginning in January 2019 and continuing through at least April 2025, Jelks and his accomplices registered 11 companies under the names of friends, romantic partners, family members and associates in an effort to conceal Jelks’ connections to the new companies.
Additionally, prosecutors said Jelks “repeatedly lied to and obstructed” FMCSA during an investigation into a February 2022 crash that resulted in the death of one of his drivers.
“Individuals who impair, impede or obstruct the lawful functions of the FMCSA make our roads and highways less safe,” Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division said in a statement. “The department will continue to work closely with the Department of Transportation and our law enforcement partners to protect drivers on our roads and highways.”
The indictment also alleges that Jelks fraudulently filed for loans under the Paycheck Protection Program, using the proceeds to operate his numerous carriers. Additionally, the indictment states that when federal authorities launched the investigation, Jelks falsified records and engaged in witness tampering in an effort to deceive investigators.
The federal government isn’t the only entity the former trucking owner is accused of defrauding.
Prosecutors said that Jelks and others used counterfeit documents to obtain commercial motor vehicles from leasing companies on a lease-to-own basis. Court documents state Jelks and his accomplices would then use the vehicles until the truck “broke down, was repossessed or they could no longer afford its payments, whichever came first, causing the leasing companies to lose money on the CMVs.”
“Motorists have a right to expect that the commercial trucks on their roadways—which weigh tens of thousands of pounds or more – are safely maintained and operated,” Nicholas J. Ganjei, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Texas, said in a statement. “By prosecuting those that undermine this expectation of safety, DOJ and DOT are simultaneously keeping our roadways safe and maintaining public confidence.”
On June 23, U.S. Magistrate Judge Christina Bryan ordered Jelks be detained pending trial, citing a serious flight risk and concerns that Jelks would “obstruct or attempt to obstruct justice or threaten, injure or intimidate, or attempt to threaten, injure or intimidate a prospective witness or juror if released.”
Included in the charges are conspiracy to defraud the United States, wire fraud, falsification of records in a federal investigation and witness tampering. LL
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