Kansas City, Mo. ? The operators of truck driving schools in Kansas City and southern Missouri conspired to help more than 70 Somali and Bosnian nationals illegally obtain commercial driver’s licenses, federal prosecutors alleged Thursday.

Many of those students went on to obtain certification to haul hazardous materials on the nation’s highways, authorities said in announcing the 62-count grand jury indictment charging 15 defendants with mail fraud, making a false writing and illegally causing identification documents to be produced.

The indictment, which was returned by a federal grand jury Wednesday in Springfield and unsealed Thursday, came after a two-year investigation that started with a tip to the Missouri Highway Patrol about the high percentage of students at the southern Missouri driving school who were passing the driver’s test, officials said Thursday.

Although the Heart of America Joint Terrorism Task Force handled the investigation, Bradley Schlozman, the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Missouri, emphasized that the indictment does not allege any of the defendants were involved in terrorism.

“That having been said, I would think it obvious that commercial driver’s licenses are an extraordinarily powerful tool, and a potential weapon, in the hands of someone seeking to do large-scale harm,” Schlozman said at a news conference Thursday.

Three at large

Schlozman said the key defendants in the case showed a “flagrant and reckless disregard for our national security.”

Twelve of the 15 defendants were arrested and made their initial appearances Thursday. All of them posted bond. Three defendants remained at large Thursday afternoon.

The defendants included Ernest A. “Mustafa” White, 49, of Kansas City, who owned the Muslim Brothers and Sisters trucking company in Kansas City, Kan., and Howard E. Schneider, 39, of Overland Park, owner of H.E. Schneider Trucking Co. and co-operator of Muslim Brothers, according to officials.

Also charged were Dean P. Proffitt, 71, superintendent of the South Central Career Center Truck Driver Training School in West Plains, Mo., and Orbin Dale May, 63, a truck driving tester from West Plains.

Individuals seeking a commercial driver’s license, referred to as a CDL, are required to pass both a written test and a comprehensive two-hour driving proficiency test.

Answers provided

White, however, provided answers to the written test to his students in exchange for money, according to the indictment. Many of the students spoke little or no English and utilized interpreters to take the test, officials said.

White then allegedly arranged with Proffitt to have Muslim Brothers and Sisters students take the driving test at the facility in West Plains, South Central Career Center Truck Driver Training School, a division of the West Plains R-7 School District. May was authorized by the state of Missouri to give the test as a “third-party tester,” according to the indictment.

Students paid the defendants amounts “far in excess” of the state’s licensing fee, and White’s students were given abbreviated tests, had someone else take the tests for them or, in some cases, did not even travel to West Plains for the testing, prosecutors alleged.

May then allegedly submitted documents to the Missouri Department of Revenue falsely reporting that the students had successfully passed the test.

“This fraud became quite lucrative for May and White,” Schlozman said Thursday.

Proffitt allowed May to conduct testing on weekends – a violation of state law – and assisted him in testing more than the four students per day allowed by the state, the indictment alleges.

Schlozman said that White gained a reputation among those seeking trucking licenses without having to take the test. Students traveled from a number of states, including Minnesota, Ohio, New York, Maine, Tennessee and Texas, to link up with White.