DOT physical scheme leads to home confinement, probation
A Florida-based certified medical examiner has been sentenced for falsifying U.S. Department of Transportation physical exams.
Ronald E. Sherry, on June 19 in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, was sentenced to 180 days of home confinement, 60 months of probation and 500 hours of community service and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment.
Sherry was arrested in November. In February he pleaded guilty to falsification of records and obstruction related to fraudulent medical examinations of CDL holders.
Working as a physician’s assistant, Sherry also was serving as a certified medical examiner. According to an FMCSA review, Sherry performed 10 times more DOT physicals in 2016 and 2017 than the national average.
According to the November news release from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General, Sherry was accused of making false entries on FMCSA medical exam forms and transmitting them to FMCSA. OIG said the incidents took place between March 2018 and March 2019.
“The forms indicated that he had conducted CDL medical examinations in accordance with federal regulations, when in fact he had not,” the OIG news release stated. “FMCSA requires drivers engaged in interstate commerce to be physically able to safely operate a commercial motor vehicle.”
The investigation was conducted by the Office of Inspector General, the Department of Homeland Security and the FMCSA. LL