DWSL First Offence, PLEASE READ!!

[joeysmama05]

I am not sure this is in the right placem but here goes...

Apparently my husbands VA licence was suspended for failure to turn in tags, which we never knew until he got pulled over in a work truck vehicle working in VA ( after recently moving to MD). The cop wrote him a ticket for "no licence in possession" and took his licence...and went on his way, he was never arrested...this happened 2/2006.

We had just moved to MD when this happened and we had to get his MD licence and since we did not have a physical licence, we had to get him a letter of clearance from the state of VA saying that he was free and clear...so we went to VA payed 600 dollars for what we thought payed for everything, included the ticket mentioned above. 3/06, he got his MD licence and went on his way. A few weeks later he got a notice of suspension and we figured it had just crossed in the mail, since the clerk at the DMV said that we had paid everything. Being two immature 20 year olds, we never looked into it...

Since then, we have gotten insurance on our car, and we never had any idea his licence was suspended.

Yesterday, while driving in VA we were pulled over for having a radar detector, which we just forgot to disconnect, and his licence came back suspended. The cop actually had my husband sit in passenger seat of the cop car while he was on the phone with whoever getting an arraignment date which is actually this Thursday. The cop and the woman on the phone couldn't figure out why exactly it was suspended and their was a mention of never paying a reinstatement fee when getting the letter of clearance, but we were told we did not have to pay it b/c we were NOT getting a VA licence back, we just wanted to pay and get the letter and get the MD licence. He was not arrested, BTW. I was told to drive and that was it.

So now, he is being arraigned this Thursday, we absolutely cannot afford a lawyer, and we are TERRIFIED of the possibility of jail time for driving while suspended b/c he will lose his job and we have a 2 year old and a 2 week old to provide for.

Does ANYONE have any advice or have anything similiar happen to him??? And can anyone tell me what the real possibility of him going to jail is??

I found online that he could serve up to 6 months and pay a fine up to 1000 dollars and an additional suspension of up to 90 days.

I do not want my husband to go to jail, especially over this.

Thank you so much for reading this and any info/advice would be greatly appreciated.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[sukharev]

I don't know for sure, but it sounds like you do need a lawyer. That said, you can start by re-instating the license, and getting the letter as to why it was suspended in the first place. If its just the matter of paying a reinstatement fee, I doubt he is going to jail. An honest guilty plea is the best way to go, accompanied by all documentation you can get. Good luck.