The owner of a trucking company was sentenced to nearly four years in prison for lying to federal authorities about safety violations.

Rochester, New York resident Tony Kirik (a.k.a. Anatoliy Kirik), 43, was sentenced to 45 months in prison, according to a March 20 statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York.

Kirik was convicted by a federal grand jury on charges of making false statements to the Federal Motor Commission Safety Administration (FMCSA) and conspiring to make false statements to the FMCSA.

Kirik operated a “multi-million dollar” trucking company called Dallas Logistics.

Officials say that when Kirik applied for authority with the FMCSA to operate as an interstate carrier, he submitted false documents regarding the safety rating of his trucking business. Kirik also provided the FMCSA with false information about his company’s “many” safety violations during safety audits and compliance reviews.

“To trick the FMCSA regarding the safety of this trucking business, Kirik started new companies using various family members’ names and an employee’s name to make it appear that these new companies were independent and not affiliated with the prior business that incurred the negative safety ratings, when in fact, the new company was merely an extension of the prior company. At trial, it was shown that Kirik’s actions jeopardized the safety of the nation’s highways and roadways from unsafe tractor trailers,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

This case was investigated by the Department of Transportation-Office of Inspector General and the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division.