Pennsylvania Turnpike preparing criminal cases against toll evaders

The commission still is working on a process to go after out-of-state motorists who don’t pay tolls, but chief compliance officer Ray Morrow and his staff are methodically preparing cases against instate toll evaders.

Mr. Morrow, a former FBI agent, said prosecutors initially told investigators nonpayment should be considered a civil matter. But after researching the law, he convinced them that scofflaws could be prosecuted criminally for theft of services and is preparing cases against companies and individuals with unpaid tolls of more than $2,000.

The agency is going county by county to pursue cases against the top 10 scofflaws in each, beginning with Dauphin County, Mr. Morrow said. The case preparation is a detailed process that began four months ago, he said, and involves one major piece of evidence: photos the turnpike automatically takes of each vehicle that passes throughthe E-ZPass system.

Armed with the photos, turnpike investigators visited 10 Dauphin County individuals to discuss their unpaid tolls. Mr. Morrow said six have either paid their debts or made a 20 percent down payment and will pay the rest within one year while criminal cases are being prepared against four others who owe more than $80,000 total.

The agency expects to work with at least five other counties to prepare criminal cases, including Allegheny County. The maximum penalty for a third-degree felony is seven years in prison and a $15,000 fine.

“When you drive through without paying, we get a picture,” Mr. Morrow said. “We gather all of the relevant information and then we make an approach to the person or company. A large percentage agree to pay.”

The agency wouldn’t provide the names of the offenders, but Mr. Morrow said the list includes individuals with unpaid tolls of more than $100,000.

In addition to possible criminal charges, the commission is preparing to recommend vehicle registration revocations against dozens of other violators. Under the law that went into effect in early August, motorists who have a history of unpaid tolls could have their registration revoked if they commit another violation.

Rather than reporting repeat violations as they occur, Mr. DeFebo said, PennDOT asked the commission to turn them in as a group every few months. The first batch should be turned in by the end of the year.

But the commission’s ability to go after out-ofstate toll evaders remains limited despite last year’s passage of a law to allow agreements with other states to go after each other’s offenders.

In last year’s dirty two dozen list of top commercial scofflaws, 17 were from outside Pennsylvania. So far, seven of the 24 firms have arranged payment plans for $918,420.10 in unpaid tolls and fees, four of them from out of state.

Of the other 16 who haven’t made arrangements to pay, 12 are from out of state. Four instate firms are expected to face criminal charges.

The commission continues to try to work with other states on joint agreements to collect tolls, Mr. DeFebo said, but it’s complicted because each state seems to have different penalties for violators, and officials don’t want their residents facing a more serious penalty from another state than they would face in their own.

“At the moment, we don’t have as much leverage with out-of-state violators,” Mr. DeFebo said.

The agency’s biggest effort is through the E-ZPass Group, a coalition of 16 states that use the same type of transponder system to collect tolls. Craig Shuey, the turnpike’s chief operating officer, is the coalition’s chairman this year.

“We continue to work on it. It’s got to be a partnership.”