I have a WARRANT!

Discussion in 'Ask An Owner Operator' started by samstone, Dec 14, 2009.

  1. samstone

    samstone Bobtail Member

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    Dec 14, 2009
    Bluegrass
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    Wow! How do I start. Well first of all, I am an owner operator leased on to a major carrier. I was driving from Tulsa to St Louis the other day coming through Oklahoma into Missouri. I stopped at the weigh station at the POE and sure enough the man wanted to have a look at my paperwork so he pulled me around back. Well, everything was ok with my paperwork but he kept staring at his computer. I said is everything alright? And he said, have you ever lived in Florida? I said yes but it's been several years ago. He said, well sir you have a felony warrant from Florida. I said, you must have the wrong guy. He asked me my S.S. # and some other questions and then said no sir this is you alright and I'm afraid we are going to have to hold you here and see if Florida wants to extradite you.
    Well you can imagine how I felt because I had absolutely no idea that I had a warrant and like 'oh no' now what. First, a half hour goes by and nothing from Florida. Then, it's an hour and nothing. Then finally the phone rings and I hear a lot of uh huh, uh huh, and then he hangs up. Well sir, this is your lucky day, Florida doesn't want to extradite you. You are free to go, but if I were you I would get this thing straitened out.
    You maybe saying how does a guy not know he has a warrant on him? Well it turns out it was from a past business dealing that I had in Florida, that I thought was all straitened out. Nope, not staitened out and now the Attorney General had gotten involved and this warrant is now two years old. Yes, I have been driving all over the country for the past two years with a felony warrant.
    So, I contacted a lawyer in Florida and for $5000 dollars or so he might be able to get things worked out.
    Ladies and gentleman, I am not a rich man. What should I do? Should I tell my carrier first and ruin my career? Or should I not tell anyone and try and get this thing worked out. After all, I have been driving around for two years with this thing already. Tell me, what do you think?
     
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  3. usedtire

    usedtire Light Load Member

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    May 15, 2009
    NJ
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    Yep time to hire on an lawyer,my buddy try to renew his has mat ,they found an warrant for 20 years ago,from south ca,samething they dont want to extradite.Something you have forgot about,is coming back to you.Now a days everything is link up.Good luck
     
  4. cdub304

    cdub304 Light Load Member

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    Dec 7, 2009
    Rockford,IL
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    Well Samstone,

    It seems like to me your between a virgin and a nun. A Ford and A Chevy. A Pete and A KW. A blonde and a brunette.

    I guess I would have to ask to do you go to Florida. If so it might be in your best interest to call around and find a cheaper lawyer to get things straigthen out or a good bailbonds man.

    But if you don't travel to Florida I would call down to the county that the warrant is in and pay to vacate the warrant and get a new court date. I do believe honesty is the best policy but a felony warrant is kinda tricky. You did not say what the warrant was for, but felony says something a little more serious than jaywalking.

    While 5k seems like a lot of money, maybe try to find a lawyer to work out a payment plan with you. Is this a class x felony?

    Trust me if you get a felony your career is ruined the heck with the carrier.

    Best Wishes
     
  5. bamanation

    bamanation Heavy Load Member

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    Jan 22, 2009
    Muscle Shoals ,AL
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    Driver if I were you I would ask for a week off. Get my personal car and meet with a lawyer in Flordia. The next time you get pulled in you might not be let go.
     
  6. samstone

    samstone Bobtail Member

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    Dec 14, 2009
    Bluegrass
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    Thanks for the advice guys. But, what do you think, should I level with my carrier? Believe me, this has me all tightened up. I mean...what if I'm under a load and I get stopped and ole smokey ain't as nice as the guy's in Mo.
    Not to mention my poor drivers seat every time I have to roll through a scale!
    No, it's not any kind of a high level felony but it is a felony. It's like the bear in Mo. said, "It aint like your a super bandito or anything". Man...this thing is not good.
    One thing for sure this old boy won't be taking any loads going any where near The Sunshine state...at least not til I get things worked out.
    Any body else out there want to fess up to anything like this ever happening to you?
     
  7. TruckrsWife

    TruckrsWife Significant Otter

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    Aug 29, 2008
    God's Country, CA
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    Not knowing what degree felony warrant it is, you should check and see if the statute of limitations has expired. Being they didn't want to extradite you could indicate a lesser felony. But it would be prudent for you to spend the money and have someone represent you since it could ruin your driving career and quite potentially another career if you were to change jobs. If you tell the company you work for about this it could, and most probably would, get you fired depending on what the warrant's for. But honesty is the best policy. Find out what you're looking at if you can before you go to your company.

    You haven't given much in the way of info for folks to help much, though I understand, it's no one's business but yours. Do seek a lawyer's help. Have the necessary paperwork in hand when you see one to show that you thought it was cleared. It might not cost as much as you think if it was just something as simple as a glitch in their system. I'd say the likelihood is good that's all it is, otherwise in all probability you wouldn't have got this far in your driving career, it would have shown up somewhere on someone's system before now.

    There's plenty of lawyers out there so do some shopping before hiring the first one you call. Sometimes legal aid can help you do the work yourself (i.e. filling out and filing documents in court), though you take a certain amount of risk in doing this. You have a laptop, use it to read up on legalese it will help you better understand the ramifications of what's there in front of you. Good luck to you.
     
  8. jtrnr1951

    jtrnr1951 Road Train Member

    I'd stop discussing on here, for sure.
     
  9. Kansas

    Kansas Road Train Member

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    2,585
    Apr 14, 2009
    aircap, Ks.
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    I would do one of two things with your carrier. Either level with them, and lay it all out on the line, or take some personal time off, and not say a word. That's gonna have to be your call as you know the type of people they are.

    forget the lawyer. Head back to Florida, and head to the warrant office. Turn yourself in, and let it go before a judge. If its bad enough you will be appointed a lawyer. Best case scenario the judge will look at the time passed, and hopefully throw it out. Unless you owe somebody a bunch of money...
     
  10. jtrnr1951

    jtrnr1951 Road Train Member

    They didn't want you back, its nothing, you can handle it by calling the county...Need help -- let me know........
     
  11. jtrnr1951

    jtrnr1951 Road Train Member

    You can go to FDLE web site and search for warrants. Florida Department Law Enforcement. Google............
     
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