BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — Authorities say a 29-year-old former employee of the Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles (OMV) on Independence Boulevard has been accused of doling out licenses in exchange for cash ‘under the table.’ 

According to arrest documents, Reggie Jamal James Jr. was arrested after a lengthy investigation into the alleged crime. 

The investigation began at the start of April, when representatives with the Louisiana State Police Insurance Fraud and Auto Theft received a complaint from the OMV regarding an employee who’d allegedly accepted a bribe of $800 in exchange for granting a Commercial Driver’s License to someone who never even took a test. 

Officials say they followed up by conducting an internal audit of the system, which revealed that between February and March of 2022 James issued a total of six licenses and/or Learner’s Permits to individuals who either never took the appropriate driving test or who failed the test.  

One of James’ alleged “customers” claimed they paid him $1,300 in cash for a license, according to a detective with the Louisiana Department of Public Safety. 

Arrest documents say James has been charged with one count of malfeasance in office, six counts of injuring public records, and one count of public bribery. 

This week, he was placed behind bars in East Baton Rouge Parish Prison with a bond set at $10,000.