Former MoDOT supervisor accused of fraud

(From the U. S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri)

A former Missouri Department of Transportation supervisor at the Normandy, Missouri maintenance facility has been indicted and accused of misusing state-issued credit cards to make $50,000 in personal purchases, including watches, clothing, cologne, shoes, and accessories for his personal vehicles.

Artemus Jamal “AJ” Jackson, 37, of Florissant, is also accused of stealing two newly purchased mowers and a newly purchased trailer from the MoDOT maintenance facility, valued at nearly $30,000.

Jackson was indicted Wednesday in U.S. District Court in St. Louis with four counts of mail fraud. The indictment says Jackson misused MoDOT issued credit cards from December 2022 through July 2026.

Jackson made about 248 personal purchases using the cards, including electronic equipment, cologne, watches, clothing, shoes and equipment and accessories for his personal Yamaha Raptor ATV, Suzuki motorcycle and GMC Sierra 1500 truck, the indictment says.

To conceal those purchases, Jackson made false entries and edits on vendor invoices to make it appear as if the transactions were for legitimate MoDOT expenses, the indictment says. Jackson approved by signature the transactions and then submitted the false invoices to his supervisor to trick the supervisor into believing that the purchases were legitimate, the indictment says.

Further, in May of 2026, Jackson bought two mowers, one that cost $9,954 and another for $13,959, that were then delivered to MoDOT, the indictment says. He stole the mowers on May 17, 2026, and staged a burglary to make it appear as if someone else had taken them, the indictment says. MoDOT began an investigation, and the indictment says that Jackson became concerned that his theft of the mowers would be discovered, so he moved them from the wooded area where he had hidden them to the shoulder of Interstate 70 at Hanley Road, and left a handwritten note on one of the mowers that read, “NORMANDY! MOWERS! MODOT!!!” He also called in an anonymous tip about the mowers’ location, using a fake voice, and claimed in another call that he’d been told by a local elected official about the location of the mowers, the indictment says.

During MoDOT’s investigation of the missing mowers, Jackson was asked on May 28 about the location of a 14-foot Big Tex trailer and accessories that he’d purchased in 2025 with $5,411 in MoDOT funds, the indictment says. Jackson initially falsely claimed the trailer was stored at a MoDOT facility in Bellefontaine Neighbors and, concerned that his theft of the trailer would be discovered, drove it the next day from the area where he’d concealed it to a location blocking a lane on Missouri Highway 367 (Lewis and Clark Boulevard) in Bellefontaine Neighbors, the indictment says. The Bellefontaine Neighbors Police Department recovered the trailer and video surveillance in the area showed Jackson towing the trailer with his personal truck to the location where he dumped it, and then later driving without the trailer, the indictment says.

Jackson started work at MoDOT on Dec. 9, 2013. He was promoted to maintenance supervisor on Oct. 1, 2022, and terminated on July 24, 2026.

Each count of mail fraud is punishable by up to 20 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000 or both prison and a fine.

Charges set forth in an indictment are merely accusations and do not constitute proof of guilt. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty.

The United States Department of Transportation, Office of Inspector General, and the Missouri Department of Transportation Audits and Investigations Division investigated the case, with the cooperation of the Missouri State Auditor’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Hal Goldsmith is prosecuting the case.