I-Team: Nightmare at the DMV

A decades-old speeding ticket came back to haunt Brian Montgomery.

He said he recently got a letter from the Rhode Island Division of Motor Vehicles saying that his license was suspended.

“I said, ‘Wow, that’s and old one. I was a teenager,‘“ Montgomery said.

According to the letter, he had an outstanding ticket, so he went to the operator control office at the DMV.

Montgomery said the ticket was a 35-year-old speeding ticket that he got out of high school.

“I had checked the back of the ticket for a hearing but nobody ever got back to me,“ he said.

Amy Kempe, a spokeswoman for Gov. Don Carcieri, said the DMV is installing a new computer system and in the process, old tickets are being discovered. She said he needs to make his case at the traffic tribunal.

Montgomery’s license was suspended 35 years ago, only he wasn’t notified. He moved out of state, moved back and when he applied for a new license, he received it.

The old computer never picked up his original suspension.

Montgomery said he had to pay $371 for the old ticket.

Montgomery could have asked the Traffic Tribunal judge for mercy, but he said he wasn’t given that choice.

Montgomery said what happened to him could be happening to hundreds of other Rhode Islanders.

“I overheard the clerks. I must have been one of the first to come in. they said there are over 400 of these going out,“ Montgomery said.

Montgomery, who’s unemployed and supporting a family, said he realizes the state needs money, but from 35-year-old tickets?

“Go figure,“ he said.