Is forgetting to state a suspended driver's license considered a felony?

[Ind]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Georgia

A friend of mine (49 yo) while filling out a medical certificate as a private pilot, forgot that he had his driver's license suspended for a few days because he forgot to pay a traffic ticket on time while he was a teenager (about 30 years ago). So he answered 'no' on the federal form to the question whether he ever had a suspended driver's license. It was just plain forgetfulness of an event so long ago. A month ago, a Federal Marshall came to his house stating that he was going to be prosecuted because he was lying on a federal form. Now he is in the middle of getting an advice from his lawyer, who thinks he should plead guilty, and have a record of 'felony' for the rest of his life, and consequently might lose his job and might not ever get a future job because of the 'felony' record. Or, he would have to pay an ungodly amount of money to pay a lawyer who might try to defend him and has experiences in Federal cases. He does not have that much money for that. My question is, is this case so serious that it is considered a 'felony' for something as simple as 'forgetting to state something 30 years ago', that literally any of us could have done? Is there any other option other than having a permanent criminal record for such thing? Any advice is appreciated.

 

[FlyingRon]

Your friend needs a better lawyer. He doesn't want to plead guilty to a felony for an inadvertant omission.
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Something else is going on here. The FAA doesn't sennd out federal marshals to charge people with felonies for discrepancies in medicals as a first course of action. Either he has done something else or the omitted charge is more than just failure to pay a ticket.

 

[Ind]

Thank you for the advice. We are thinking the same things, that 1) he needs a better lawyer - but this new one will cost him a fortune, and 2) he does not need to plead guilty for, as you said, an inadvertent omission.

But there is another detail, my friend told me he also did not mention one out of two medications that he took. I truthfully did not know whether he forgot, or did not write it down because he had thought it was not important (or for another reason). My guess is because this is for a medical certification, the FAA could legally pull his medical record, and see that there was a discrepancy there. So two incorrect statements on the federal form, and the FAA thought they were no longer an inadvertent omission, but intentional. But that was not what my friend stated. This would not be the first time he applied for the medical certification - he has been flying a private small plane since he was a teenager - yes, he did know better, and I did not know how he filled out the form years prior to this year (whether he did everything correctly or not).

And the ironic part is, that for that class, now a medical certification is no longer required. So this entire ordeal is like a bad thing happening at the bad timing. One thing that does not sit well with me, is why the Federal prosecutor, based in Oklahoma, happens to be located right across the street of the FAA building, wants to waste time on cases like these, instead of pursuing large cases that affect large populations, instead of just an individual? He is not even a commercial pilot, just a private pilot.

What are the chances going all out to the court, and hiring an expensive lawyer, and trying to bring the case to the state of GA (from Oklahoma), that he would not have to plead guilty in the end?

Again, all advice is appreciated.

 

[Silverplum]

Thank you for the advice. We are thinking the same things, that 1) he needs a better lawyer - but this new one will cost him a fortune, and 2) he does not need to plead guilty for, as you said, an inadvertent omission.

But there is another detail, my friend told me he also did not mention one out of two medications that he took. I truthfully did not know whether he forgot, or did not write it down because he had thought it was not important (or for another reason). My guess is because this is for a medical certification, the FAA could legally pull his medical record, and see that there was a discrepancy there. So two incorrect statements on the federal form, and the FAA thought they were no longer an inadvertent omission, but intentional. But that was not what my friend stated. This would not be the first time he applied for the medical certification - he has been flying a private small plane since he was a teenager - yes, he did know better, and I did not know how he filled out the form years prior to this year (whether he did everything correctly or not).

And the ironic part is, that for that class, now a medical certification is no longer required. So this entire ordeal is like a bad thing happening at the bad timing. One thing that does not sit well with me, is why the Federal prosecutor, based in Oklahoma, happens to be located right across the street of the FAA building, wants to waste time on cases like these, instead of pursuing large cases that affect large populations, instead of just an individual? He is not even a commercial pilot, just a private pilot.

What are the chances going all out to the court, and hiring an expensive lawyer, and trying to bring the case to the state of GA (from Oklahoma), that he would not have to plead guilty in the end?

Again, all advice is appreciated.

Why didn't you include ALL of the pertinent information in Post #1?

Why is he not asking his own questions, since this is happening to him and he would have all of the pertinent information, and you would not be guessing?

Why do you think you know what the FAA should or should not prioritize?

Odds questions are always unanswerable, so I always say, "42."

 

[Zigner]

Your friend sure is forgetful. I'm kind of glad he won't be in the air with me.

 

[HighwayMan]

Your friend needs to deal with his own problems, not let you do the work for him since you obviously don't know the whole story.

HE can start by retaining competent legal counsel.

 

[FlyingRon]

And the ironic part is, that for that class, now a medical certification is no longer required.

That's not true. Even under the not-yet-enacted rules, he will have had to have had a VALID medical issued in the past ten years. What you're going to be allowed going forward is to have your regular doctor sign off on your general health. That doesn't excuse you lying about medications and criminal history.

 

[Zigner]

That's not true. Even under the not-yet-enacted rules, he will have had to have had a VALID medical issued in the past ten years. What you're going to be allowed going forward is to have your regular doctor sign off on your general health. That doesn't excuse you lying about medications and criminal history.

...and he can't have had his medical revoked.

 

[davew128]

Sounds like the friend was flying over Macho Grande and suffered PTSD, and now that he's on a commercial flight, is being pressed into service as a replacement pilot because the entire flight crew ate the fish.

 

[FlyingRon]

Sounds like the friend was flying over Macho Grande and suffered PTSD, and now that he's on a commercial flight, is being pressed into service as a replacement pilot because the entire flight crew ate the fish.

No.... I don't think I'll ever get over Macho Grande...those wounds run pretty deep.

 

[Ind]

Haha, the responses were all over the place ... it was amusing to read.

In a serious note, I understood that I left the second important info out that was most probably the reason for the Federal prosecutor to make a case. My friend didn't even ask me to do this, to find what others might know or say about this entire situation. I just felt that the whole situation is ridiculous - this is a person who never had a criminal record in his life, never broke the law except for minor traffic violations. It just seems unfair for cases like these to have a Federal prosecutor busy chasing instead of doing other more important things. And the case should have have gone to court here in GA, not in OK, and that's another nonsense that they are trying to pull against him. It was his fault to not state the second medication on that federal form, for whatever reason. But again, he is not flying you or any stranger out there. To me the impact to others is insignificant that it is wasting everybody's time to charge cases like these, and that's the whole point. I would think a probation and a fine would suffice, not a criminal record.

Anyways, thank you all for the advice.

 

[Zigner]

Haha, the responses were all over the place ... it was amusing to read.

In a serious note, I understood that I left the second important info out that was most probably the reason for the Federal prosecutor to make a case. My friend didn't even ask me to do this, to find what others might know or say about this entire situation. I just felt that the whole situation is ridiculous - this is a person who never had a criminal record in his life, never broke the law except for minor traffic violations. It just seems unfair for cases like these to have a Federal prosecutor busy chasing instead of doing other more important things. And the case should have have gone to court here in GA, not in OK, and that's another nonsense that they are trying to pull against him. It was his fault to not state the second medication on that federal form, for whatever reason. But again, he is not flying you or any stranger out there. To me the impact to others is insignificant that it is wasting everybody's time to charge cases like these, and that's the whole point. I would think a probation and a fine would suffice, not a criminal record.

Anyways, thank you all for the advice.

He may not be my pilot, but he does share the airspace. His deceit and/or forgetfulness are not acceptable qualities for a safe pilot.

 

[HighwayMan]

I would think a probation and a fine would suffice, not a criminal record.

Well if he was sentenced to probation he would still have a criminal record.

 

[eerelations]

Well if he was sentenced to probation he would still have a criminal record.

Yup, absolutely.

 

[Ind]

Yes, I understand. Probation = criminal record. I wish there was something else "like a probation", but not shown as a criminal record. That was the very reason I was posting in this forum, to see if there was anyone who had some kind of similar experience with things like this.

Until any of us was put in that kind of situation, then we wouldn't look for second, or third, or fourth opinion, and think it was just "any other case". But if you'd think again, is that "criminal" record "just" for that action, as if it were a murder, manslaughter, or any other crime? Not to me. But of course, it depends on what is defined a "criminal" action. And unfortunately, this so-called justice, is blind. And idiotic in some cases, and this is one of them.