No INS/suspended license/tags/plates. Yes, I'm an idiot.

I'll try to keep this as short as possible, and thank you in advance for reading it.

I was pulled over on April 7th on the 400 south. I had no insurance, my tags were expired and the plates were the wrong plates. I had purchased this car from a friend a few months back and put my old plates on the car to get it back to my house. My wife and I share a vehicle, and we both have insurance on that car, but this morning my wife was busy and like an idiot, I thought, "I'll go down and get done what I had to do. Who'll know, right?"

Mr. OPP knew. There was an accident on the highway that had just cleared and as he pulled off the shoulder, I moved over thinking he was trying to get out in a hurry. He moved behind me, I slowed and moved left again -- just as he tried to speed up and go around me. He wasn't pleased, fell in behind me and there I am.

The suspended license I honestly did not know about. I received two tickets three years ago for faiure to produce proof of insurance (we had it) and an improperly displayed plate (new-to-us vehicle and the screws were stripped, so I stuck it in the back window of the Cherokee) and we were told we'd get a court date. We didn't, I let it slide and never heard anything again until getting pulled over. After this I called and have since paid those fines and am getting my license back.

I have NO intention of trying to get off of this. I did it, and I deserve to be punished. My question is this -- I've been doing tons of reading, but still can't figure out whether I should have representation for this. If my intention is to ask simply for some lenience in the amount of the fines or for one of the two major tickets to be dropped, do I need someone there for that? Should I attempt to contact the prosecutor in advance?

Or should I be doing what I've read pretty much everywhere, which seems to be get legal representation and see what happens. To me, this seems to be an open-and-shut case, so what could represenation really help here?

I'll also point out -- I'm not rich or anything like that, so it's not like I have $30K to throw out there for fines, and the jump in insurance would probably mean an end to me driving at all. Period. I'm just saying I understand what I did was wrong, and that if that's the consequence, so be it.

Thanks again for your time.

If you're hesitant to seek legal representation, try meeting with the Crown first to see if they'll offer you any kind of deal. You're looking at some very serious fines, but if you can show the Courts you've taken care of everything hopefully they may offer some leniency. Hopefully the Crown would agree to a plea deal where they'll drop one charge in exchange for a plea to the rest.

If you don't like how your meeting with the Crown goes, you could still likely have a free consultation with a paralegal and just see what they suggest. While their services can be expensive, your fines are so serious that even getting one charge dropped could put you ahead financially.

Stanton, thanks so much for your response.

I have cleared up the old issue and gotten back my license from that, and we already have insurance on the other car (and will either be dropping to one car or I'll simply not be driving any longer because of the insurance rates), so all that mess is taken care of.

I've been hesitant about contacting the Crown because I have been told they are so busy they likely can't see you before your court date, and frankly I don't want to antagonize them. If that sort of thing is done in advance, do you think it better to call them to try and set up an appointment to see him or her for a few minutes, send a fax or show up in person? And is that first court date where everything will happen, or is it just a precursor to some later event? Does your plea make the difference in that?

I think that should end my questions, at least until after I meet with one or the other. Again, thanks for your help.