New CDL - BackGround Checks - ExPat - Minimal US Work History

Thanx for that. I'm VERY secure in the fact that as of today my alias and my birth name have not been cross referenced with one another. My alias wasn't simply giving a false name. I possessed a separate drivers license issued by the DMV. This was obtained in 1989, prior to any need to provide a SSN. Back then , one need only possess one of 3 pieces of documentation as proof of identity: 1)A birth certificate, 2) A passport, or 3) In 29 states, a Baptismal certificate. I had access to blank Baptismal certificates. My alias was a name unrelated to me, with a DOB unrelated to mine, with an address history that's never been associated with me. The only relation to me is the picture on the license. It was an actual independent record, not simply a name that was given to authorities.

I've spent the past 22 years working in the corporate world where background checks were a constant reality. I've had more than 2 dozen background checks run on me. 2 of which were by banks when I worked on their IT systems during a contractual implementation. All of those background checks wee done in the nation I was living in for most of the past 2 decades. Since returning to the US, I've had 2 background checks done in the past 2 years by 2 separate Fortune 100 corporations, one of them being a major banking institution. I've physically seen one of the two background reports (provided by HireRight) and received inquiry from 2 separate HR departments on both, just desiring a simple explanation as to why the reports were so devoid of information. One of the things Background Companies do when running a report is check credit history and address history, so they can investigate jurisdictions where you've lived more throroughly. My alias only ever had one address. That address was not in a state I've ever lived in, nor one where I've ever had an address history. The alias was only ever used for the purposes of driving - my boneheaded answer to dealing with the drivers license in my birth name having been suspended due to failure to appear in court on 3 speeding tickets. That alias License was put in a shoebox and hasn't seen the light of day since. In 2004, when I was dealing with my second legal issue, I simply appeared with a desire to deal with the "Issue" . I didn't have any identification on me at the time I presented myself to the Sheriff for official booking. Didn't matter. They ran fingerprints and AFIS matched them to my alias. No other
"AKA's" on the screen. I could see the AFIS results right on the screen next to me. In 1994 I didn't pay the last speeding ticket I got on the alias drivers license. A misdemeanor warrant was issued.

In 2010 I made a trip to the US to meet my newborn niece. I was determined to cleanup my two dangling bits of old issues once and for all. I chose the easy one first and inquired about the traffic warrant. That jusrisdiction had an amnesty program at the time for clearing old warrants. Cost me $50 to get that warrant quashed. The Sheriff ran that license name for wants and warrants. And sure enough, the other warrant from 2004 was there as expected. It was then that I found out the scope of that warrant. It is tagged "NonExtraditable" and limited to the city the warrant was issued in. The deputy just joked "I wouldn't go back there until you get that taken care of".

Then I consulted with an attorney in the 2nd jurisdiction regarding cleaning up that 2004 incident. That one wasn't so easy. This is where the issue of that incident being a "Wobbler" comes into play. A Wobbler is a term that is used in the court system to describe crimes that can be charged as either misdemeanor, or a felony, at the prosecutors, or judges discretion. Here is a link to a legal site which explains Wobblers Wobbler Laws | LegalMatch Law Library

Had I not bailed on the whole incident originally, the lawyer said with my record the judge very likely would have sentenced it as a misdemeanor. He said that the fact that the judge chose to issue such a limited bench warrant is indicative of just how serious he probably considered the offense to be. Additionally, it was the judge who stopped things before sentencing me and asked if I was interested in work release. I agreed and he set me up to talk with the Work release coordinator who was in the courtroom. What the judge clearly wasn't aware of is that that "Alias" that I'd appeared under had no work history, and I was only in the US temporarily. I really wanted to clear up the problem, but much to my chagrin, I had an impossible time finding a job until 2 days before I was supposed to return to court for official sentencing. I landed a graveyard job at an Adult bookstore, and then arranged to rent a room in that city. But when I returned to court, the Judge informed me that working at that Adult bookstore was unacceptable because it apparently had some major legal issues with the city. The judge gave a continuance for 2 weeks, and when I was unable to find a job in that time, that's when I through my hands up and said screw it - and just went back home to the country I was living in.

Fast forward to 2010. Now the attorney I consulted with could not give the same assurances. Due to fleeing, there was a 50/50 chance the judge might sentence it as a felony. While jail time was exceedingly unlikely, if it were sentenced as a felony, this state now requires all felons to submit a DNA sample. I thought long and hard about it and ultimately my wife and I decided that the risks were too great to take at that juncture. I was in a career that earned me a great income and I had too many years of excellent earning potential left that would be obliterated if the two records somehow ever became combined. Since my wife's death, that career, which I always hated, and it's exceptional earning potential started to matter to me a lot less. I wanted to start doing something which I might actually enjoy,and trucking was something I'd envisioned way back in high school before I let parental and peer expectations start guiding my decisions.

But as Ridgeline alluded to, the potential things which can happen after hire while on the job could very realistically produce a situation where a fingerprinting could become out of my control. It's simply not worth the risk. So I've been investigating trucking in the country I've lived in for most of the past 2 decades and there regulation are no way near as rigorous as they are here in the US. So I've decided to get my CDL here, since it makes things a lot easier when it comes to getting a CDL there. Then getting a job with a company there pretty much just boils down to whether or not I can drive. The only downside is that if I were trucking here in the US, I have nothing that would be dragging me home. I've a sister and a niece, and a couple dozen friends spread all over the country. So being on the road for long periods would be no issue. Unfortunately that's not the case back home. There I've ton's of friends and would feel they draw to spend a lot more time at home - taking away from some of the freedom I'd been envisioning. But, that's the price paid for having a past that's not been properly taken care of. In about 5-7 years when I walk away from working life, I'll finally bite the bullet. Homeland Security is testing a facial recognition pilot program in 9 airports today that's slated for limited implementation potentially as early as 2022. Currently the only databases used are for those on watchlists, but give it a decade or so and I'm sure the system will grow to be more robust in coverage. But once my working life is over, the records matching doesn't matter nearly as much to me.

 

Forty-Four of the 50 states use some form of Facial Recognition at the DMV. The six holdouts are California, Missouri, Louisiana, Mississippi, Maine, and New Hampshire.

 

If I get a CDL, yes, it will be in one of those states. Use of facial recognition software is governed by state statutes. Those statutes control the scope and use of that software. Currently there are only 6 states that have digitized their records prior to 2005, and the state with the oldest digitized records only goes back to 1998. All photos prior to that are on microfilm and have to be manually searched and aren't subject to examination by the facial recognition software unless specifically requested and manually entered. The state of Vermont is currently in trouble for use violations of it's DMV database. Warrantless scans are a big no no, even though a number of DMV's and Law Enforcement agencies have been caught breaking the law. In any event, the facial recognition software can only scan digitized records and the oldest currently digitized records only go back as 1998 in one state. My old "alias" license was issued well before then. If the process of digitization of court records is any indicator, it's highly unlikely that states will invest the resources necessary to digitise older records since the money's they received from the Feds pursuant to the 2005 Real ID Act have already been spent.

 

??? Shifting blame to others? Where have I done that, and to whom has the blame been shifted? I've openly admitted my past behaviour, and in detail. I've openly called it boneheaded. I've detailed my behaviour along the way, and I take full responsibility for all of my past actions. Ridgeline provided some very constructive insight, and I thanked him for his "Frank" input and indicated that I appreciated the information and the time he took to share it. Furthur, I've stated that in light of that valuable information and insight, I can't see a credible path to being a CDL driver in the US. My apologies, but I've reread everything I've posted and I just can't see this "Blame Shifting" you allude to.