WOODLAND HILLS—Emmit Marshall, 52, of Woodland Hills, pled guilty to federal criminal charges on Monday, July 29 to five felony counts of wire fraud. Marshall is the owner and president of the Alliance School of Trucking, a trucking school in San Fernando Valley. The school recruited veterans to take classes that were financially covered through the post 9/11 GI Bill. From 2011 to April 2015, he and co-defendant Robert Waggoner defrauded the Veterans Association of over $4.2 million.
The Alliance School of Trucking was certified to offer classes like the 160 hour Tractor Trailer & Safety class and a 600 hour Select Driver Development Program which would be paid by the Veterans Association. They paid tuition and fees directly to the school, while paying the veterans directly for housing and other additional fees. Marshall and Waggoner constructed a scheme in which they forged a veteran’s application, who never intended to attend the Veterans Association certified programs enrollment. Marshall and Waggoner would receive the tuition fees and the veteran would get a housing allowance and other fees from the Veterans Association.
Between 2011 and 2015, the Veterans Association paid $2.3 million in tuition and fees to the Alliance School of Trucking, as well as approximately $1.9 million in education benefits directly to veterans. Investigators are still determining the exact amount of loss.
According to the plea agreement, Marshall and Waggoner created fraudulent enrollment certifications and student files that contained bogus documents. When they were first notified about a federal investigation into the school, Marshall ordered the fraudulent student files to be destroyed.
Waggoner is scheduled to go to trial on February 25, 2020 and Marshall will be sentenced on November 18, 2019, where he could face a maximum sentence of 100 years in federal prison.
The United States Attorney’s Office, who is prosecuting this case declined to comment to Canyon News due to the case against co-defendent Waggoner which is ongoing.
