Bus Company Admits to Falsifying Records: Feds

A New Britain-based bus company and its manager have pleaded guilty to federal charges of falsifying driving records.

Federal officials said Dariusz Stzeborowski, 49, of Rocky Hill, scheduled drivers at Wisla Express in New Britain to bus trips that exceeded the maximum allowable number of driving hours and then asked those drivers to falsify the driving logs.

“Federal regulations on passenger-carrying vehicles exist to keep drivers, passengers and American highways safe,” David Fein, U.S. Attorney for the district of Connecticut, said in a statement. “Transportation companies and their employees who violate these important laws face federal prosecution.”

Wisla Express, located at 157 Broad Street in New Britain, operates vans and minibuses to transport people to and from airports, and tour buses carrying people to places outside of Connecticut.

Between September 2008 and September 2011, Stzeborowski scheduled and assigned drivers to trips, knowing that the drivers would be exceeding the regulated limits of on-duty driving time, and also instructed drivers and others to falsify driving logs by recording that the drivers were off-duty during times when they were, in fact, driving, according to federal officials.

To pay drivers for the time they actually spent working for Wisla, Stzeborowski had them submit separate pay sheets and notes that accurately detailed their hours, then he destroyed the pay sheets and other documentation, according to officials.

Stzeborowski pleaded guilty on Friday. The maximum possible sentence is 5 years and up to a $250,000 fine. Sentencing is scheduled for May 17.