Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KTC) Drivers License Scandal Still Unresolved

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The KY Driver's License Scandal erupted in 2024 when a temporary employee, Melissa Moorman, squealed on the NIA regional office of the KTC. She accused co-workers of selling driver's licenses to illegal immigrants for $200 per license. She said the scheme happened four or five times a day over a period of at least two years at multiple branches across the state. Melissa was fired in autumn 2024. Read more.

So far in 2026, only two staff members and five temporary employees in Louisville have been indicted.

Spectrum News reports: The indictment alleges the group— Donnita Wilson, 32; Aariel Matthews, 27; Raul Tellez Ojeda, 32; Lazaro Alejandro Castello Rojas, 37; and Robert Danger Correa, 41—accepted payments of $200 to $1,500 from legally present, non-U.S. citizens applying for driver’s licenses. In exchange, the group allegedly promised to expedite the process and bypass necessary tests. According to the indictment, some conspirators altered information in government databases to bypass required steps, resulting in the issuance of invalid licenses. Prosecutors said the scheme involved kickbacks and bribes.

What is a ‘legally present, non-U.S. citizen’? It’s someone who was issued a driver's license without meeting the necessary requirements under Kentucky Revised Statues (KRS) 186.430 and 186.412.

After withholding records, after nearly a year a court ordered the KTC to release 2300 records to WDRB, and a news story on Dec. 30, 2025, stated:
The ruling marks a major development in WDRB's ongoing investigation into claims that non-citizens were able to buy Kentucky driver's licenses under the table, often without proper documentation, Homeland Security screening or required driving tests… Records released under the judge's order show the problem wasn't limited to Louisville. Revocation notices were sent statewide — including Lexington, Elizabethtown, Bowling Green, Covington and many other communities.

How many communities were involved? For how many years? How many staff members of KTC were involved? How many have been indicted? How many drivers licenses are ‘at large’? How many temporary employees are still on the job, waiting for the scandal to cool off before resuming the operation?

Gov. Andy Beshear stated to the media in April 2025: "To our knowledge, all employees involved have been hired through a temp agency and have been terminated." Now, nearly a year later, the scandal remains unresolved.