Suspended Lic. on Probabtion

I'm 23 and live in Maryland. I was pulled over for going 10 miles over the speed limit and was notified that my drivers lic. had been suspended since Dec. of 1999 for not participating in a driver improvement program. I was promptly arrested and charged with Driving on Suspened Lic., Showing a Suspended Lic., and posession of a Suspended Lic.

I am on one year probabtion for a previous charge. What can or should I do? I have to plead guilty due to the fact that I was driving on suspended lic. but I had no idea that they were suspended or ever knew they were in jeopardy at all.

I've only had 3 driving violations which were promptly paid for the next day I recieved any of them. I never recieved a letter in the mail saying I needed to take classes or that they were suspended or anything.

I know this whole thing is really going to bite me in the butt. What recourse should I be prepared for and what can I do about the whole situation besides bending over and kissing my rear good bye?

Regards,
DigitalMaryland

same thing in PA

Throw yourself at the mercy of the court.
Seriously though, almost the same thing happened to me, and I honestly wasn't aware that my license had been suspended. In PA it doesn't matter if you received a notice or not, dept. of trans. only needs to claim they sent you one. An attorney I spoke to at the time said I could fight it, but....It would be very, very difficult to win and I would still need to pay him, which would probably be more than any fines I would incure.
My major concern was additional suspension (driving with a suspended license carries a penalty of an additional 6 mo suspension).
So I did what any flat broke 26 yr old who is up against the PENNDOT gods and the PA justice system would do in order to keep my license. I kissed some serious booty. Did everything in my power to rectify the situation BEFORE (paid the delinquet fines) my court date, kept documentation of my belated compliance to the previous penalties, and plead guilty. The magistrate allowed me to give an explanation and present proof of my efforts to straighten the whole matter out.
Result: NO fines, NO additional suspension.
Now, this is just my story, not legal advice. Alot will depend on why you had to be in the driver improvement program to begin with. MOST judges are fair, and if you show that you really want to make this right, he/she may cut you some slack. You'll still have to comply with the origional penalty though. You may have some additional fines as well. Don't be a smart-ass, and don't try to outsmart the judge.
Talk to an attorney in your area also and get their feedback.
Let me know how it turns out. Good luck.