Hello,

I was driving along the other day when i had a police officer pull me over. My plates were expired-but apart from that, i had been lazy as hell and haden't gotten my plates registered to my vehicle (i had taken them off my previous vehicle and didn't get them transferred properly). The car is insured and the plates were registered to my name, but obviously not appropriate for the vehicle. The officer told me to get the car towed home, gave me a ticket for the expired plates, and a summons to court for the above mentioned offense. Realizing the gravity of the situation, when I got home I immediately paid the expired sticker fine of 110 dollars, and immediately had my car properly registered (used my tax return to pay for all this). I'm 18 years old, and i know this was REALLY REALLY stupid (I am a pristine driver, never run a stop sign, never speed, always signal etc....oh and I drive a police cruiser :p). What is going to happen to me when I go to court? I am fairly terrified. I also have a fairly extenuating financial situation at home, and can't afford higher insurance, and I need my license to get to and from work and school. Do I need an attorney (I really don't want to have to pay for THAT as well) ? This is my first offense...but its a doozy from what I now understand

Thanks for any help

The punishment for the offence is as follows:

...a fine of not less than $100 and not more than $1,000 or to imprisonment for not more than thirty days, or to both, and in addition the persons licence or permit may be suspended for not more than six months.

If this is your first conviction and the circumstances are as you described, then you could probably walk away with just the minimum fine. The bigger problem could be the affect on your insurance. Insurance companies typically classify offences as either minor or major. If it's a major offence you'll be looking at a rate hike. I'd contact your insurance provider and see how they classify this offence.

One suggestion is to ask for a meeting with the Crown to discuss your matter. Bring proof that you've taken care of everything and explain your situation. They might be willing to offer you a plea to a lesser charge.

Edit: You could try speaking with a paralegal about your matter. Many offer free consultations.

Their services are more costly then simply paying the fine, so youll have to figure how much its worth to you NOT to have the conviction on your record. Thats assuming theres some issue they can even fight the charge on.

The first question should be, what were you smoking to transfer plates onto a vehicle without properly registering them with MTO?

Second question, how did your insurance company cover you since they check (or should have) and your plates did not match the vehicle on file?

This is what criminals do on get away stolen vehicles for all kinds of criminal activities...

It was stupid I know and my laziness is the reason really. In terms of the insurance, you can insure a car that never moves if you want, its the VIN number that is insured, not the plate. From what I had thought driving without insurance was like retardedly stupid so before I even bought the car i had it insured, but the plates i thought were not as big of a deal since I did have an ownership, and the car was insured, and I owned the plates. Turns out it is an offense that warrants me going to court, and I'm pretty scared as is, but from what I've been told by people (none of whome are lawyers) because of my financial situation and my good track record and because I got it all done the next day and paid off the expired sticker ticket right away I should be able to get away with not having my license suspended (which is really what has me biting my nails), and potentially not paying the MAXIMUM fine (which is a thousand dollars), if I do how ever hopefully they will allow me to do some sort of payment plan otherwise I'm not going to college.

While I obviously can't give you a guarantee, from my experience the Crown rarely seeks more than the minimal fine on a first conviction. If you're able to show that you've corrected everything and agree to plead guilty it's even more likely.

Before the Justice of the Peace hands down his sentence, you'll be given the opportunity to provide input. You can tell the J.P. about your financial situation and upcoming schooling. Bring some documentation to support these claims. They may reduce the fine and/or offer you a longer period of time to pay.