Awesome Car Decals, Car Stickers, Car Wraps, and Car Tattoos

Hey there folks. I have been living abroad for over 3 years now. A handful of months before I left to live overseas I got a misdemeanor traffic violation, had to do with using a fake validation sticker on my license plate, dumb yes, not here to discuss that. Anyhow, I got pulled over, issued a citation, and told it was a misdemeanor and I’d have to appear in court. My car was towed, and could not be driven even after I got it back as my tags were confiscated.

I soon after got an amazing job offer overseas, and as I was facing total ruin here, homelessness and other horrible things, it seemed a good idea to go. However I left before the disposition of my case.

I checked and found out that it had become a “warrant case” after my failure to appear.

My question is, after more than 3 years, will a bench warrant for what was essentially a misdemeanor get me yanked our of the line at customs when they scan my passport, and taken away to a jail cell if I return? I would be returning via another state several hours drive away from where the citation was issued.

Any help would be appreciated, as I want to return for a visit, and get this handled while I am there, however it will be a lot more difficult if I get arrested at the airport and don’t get the chance to turn myself in. Any help is greatly appreciated.
Hmm, well I have to wonder what the failure to appear was for. I think the level of the crime must effect whether or not it shows up in their system. If you were wanted for a felony for example, that might have an effect I think. Also, how close or far were you from the state which the Bench warrant was issued from?

What I really want to know is if this will effect my being able to return to the USA, and whether or not it will cause me to be picked up at customs, this happened in Maryland by the way.

3 Responses

Stay in touch with the conversation, subscribe to the RSS feed for comments on this post.

1. 

   Harleygrl

   I think you should call an attorney in the area where this unfortunate incident occurred, and you can probably get it straightened out to your satisfaction.

   Esp. now that you’ve got all that cool tax-free income, yeah baby.

   October 30, 2010 at 6:05 am
2. 

   cheetos and grape pop

   Call a criminal defense attorney in the US city you’ll be landing in and explain the situation. He will not charge you unless he needs to do more work than answering your question/talking to you for 5-10 minutes.

   What have you got to lose?

   Make the call.

   October 30, 2010 at 6:17 am
3. 

   eden

   I don’t know if this will help or not.. I was picked up at the US/Mexico border for a warrant that I was unaware of- due to a Failure to appear. I was stuck there for 7 days- until the state it was issued from, decided they were not going to pick me up. And it was 3 years after the failure to appear. Hope this helps.

   October 30, 2010 at 6:32 am

Powered by Yahoo! Answers