The 12 individuals facing charges are involved with trucking companies.
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But toll cheats are, by and large, not a major problem, according to agency officials.
“It amounts to about a million dollars per year or three-tenths of one percent of our revenues,” DRPA CEO John Hanson told KYW Newsradio. “We just looked at the 12 top offenders and we decided that we were going to put a case together and give it to the prosecutor and ask them to pursue them criminally.”
The legal action alone persuaded some of those charged to enter payment agreements on bills ranging from $500 to $75,000. But for about a year, these defendants were given several chances to settle their bills through the EZ Pass system.
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“Anybody who violates is contacted three times. It goes to a collection agency who then pursues a judgment,” Hanson added. “But when the violations continue, we felt that we had to take stronger action."
He hopes the message is clear here. Skip on the toll over and over, and they’ll come after you.