AG: Paterson Bus Company that Used Unqualified Drivers to Transport Students Pleads Guilty, Agrees to $250K Penalty, 10-Year Debarment from Government Contracts

Apr 28, 2025 | A-1 Elegant Tours | American Star Transportation LLC | anticorruption profiteering penalty | decade-long ban from doing business with the State | Eastern Star Transportation | false representations for a government contract | Guilty Plea | hiring practices | Office of Public Integrity and Accountability | OPIA | Paterson Bus Company | safety of its bus fleet | school buses | second-degree crime | six-figure penalty | Unqualified Drivers | Child Protection | Consumer Protection | Press Release | Public Integrity

Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin and the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability (OPIA) announced that a Paterson school bus company pleaded guilty to a second-degree crime, and agreed to pay a six-figure penalty and face a decade-long ban from doing business with the State, after it put unqualified drivers behind the wheels of school buses and deceived school districts about its hiring practices and the safety of its bus fleet.