Published on Saturday, October 11, 2008
By Pasadena Star Staff Writer
WHEN you give every Metropolitan Transportation Authority bus driver $250 worth of day passes at the beginning of every shift and don't have any way of checking whether they were legitimately sold, expect trouble.
While most drivers are honest, there are always a few who will take advantage of a loose system, such as the one driver who was recently caught in a scam to steal and sell $10,000 worth of day passes.
It took the better part of a year for the MTA and the Sheriff's Department to catch up with Jeffrey Ralph, who drove Line 204 through Koreatown and, with the help of bus rider Walter James Hamilton, authorities said, moved thousands of stolen day passes on the streets of L.A. for between $2 and $4 each.
The driver, Ralph, pleaded no contest to embezzlement charges last week. He has been ordered to repay $10,000. And, yes, the MTA did fire him.
Now Metro Deputy Executive Officer for Systems Jack Eckles admits something's very wrong
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