A former maintenance supervisor for the Missouri Department of Transportation has been indicted on federal fraud charges after prosecutors say he used state-issued credit cards for $50,000 in personal purchases, and also participated in a scheme to steal MoDOT equipment worth nearly $30,000.
Artemus Jamal Jackson of Florissant was indicted Wednesday in U.S. District Court in St. Louis on four counts of mail fraud.
According to the indictment, Jackson used MoDOT credit cards for nearly 250 personal purchases between December 2022 and July 2026, including watches, cologne, shoes, electronics and equipment and accessories for his personal vehicles.
Prosecutors say Jackson hid the purchases by changing vendor invoices to make them appear to be legitimate MoDOT expenses. He's accused of approving the transactions and then turning in the altered invoices to a supervisor.
The indictment also says Jackson stole two mowers newly purchased for MoDOT in May 2026. The mowers, which cost $9,954 and $13,959, were delivered to a MoDOT maintenance facility in Normandy, where Jackson worked, before prosecutors say he stole them and staged a burglary to cover it up.
After MoDOT began investigating, Jackson was accused of moving the mowers to the shoulder of Interstate 70 near Hanley Road, leaving a handwritten note that read, "NORMANDY! MOWERS! MODOT!!!" Prosecutors say he then made an anonymous phone call, using a fake voice, telling officials where the mowers were and that an elected official had tipped him off to the location of the mowers.
The indictment says Jackson also stole a 14-foot Big Tex trailer and accessories that he bought with $5,411 in MoDOT funds in 2025. After he was questioned about the trailer's location, he allegedly moved it to Missouri Highway 367 in Bellefontaine Neighbors, blocking a lane until police recovered it. Investigators later obtained surveillance video showing Jackson towing the trailer there with his personal truck.
Jackson began working for MoDOT in 2013 and became a maintenance supervisor in October 2022. Prosecutors say MoDOT fired him on July 24, 2026.
Each count of mail fraud carries a potential maximum sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
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