October 22, 2006

Ronald L. Stiver
Commissioner
Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles
100 N. Senate Ave.
Indianapolis, IN 46204

Dear Mr. Stiver,

For more than a year, I have been trying to work with the Indiana BMV, Indiana Senators, and various other officials to try to address a very serious problem brought on by identity theft.

Recently, Senator Robert Garton contacted me to say that Joel Silverman had resigned and suggested I contact you to see if you might be willing to help me. You are in the best position to take direct action to resolve the matter. Much to my dismay, Mr. Silverman absolutely refused to give me any assistance.

Back in late 2001, several people went to the Indiana BMV on different dates and applied for Indiana identification cards. Not only did Indiana issue multiple cards to multiple people bearing my name and Social Security Number, one person (Richard R. Brown) was given an Indiana driver's license. His Indiana driver's license number was 2350902283.

I was working with the Indiana State Police (Amy Johnson, +1 317 233 6049, case #52-35359) to address the ID theft issue. She told me that on April 15, 2002, Mr. Brown was arrested and that he was prosecuted in November 2002 in Hamilton County (court case number 29D020203FD00023) and sentenced to three years in jail.

Unfortunately, and unbeknownst to me, the driver's license given to Mr. Brown was marked as "suspended". When I tried to renew my driver's license in my own state of North Carolina, I was refused. While I was able to secure a letter from Indiana indicating that I do not appear to be the person on file, that letter only enabled me to renew my driver's license. It did not fix the problem.

The problem is that, since Indiana is advertising to the National Driver Register that "Paul Jones" has a suspended driver's license, I am at risk of being arrested any day I drive down the road. A police officer who might pull me over and check my driver's license would see that there is a valid license and a suspended license. With such information in hand, the officer would have every reason to take me to jail while he tries to learn the truth.

I live with this threat looming over my head every single day and it truly bothers me. Further, until this is corrected, I am burdened every time I wish to get a driver's license to prove that I am not the person in Indiana with a suspended license.

I talked to Shawn McLauren (+1 202 366 2737), Chief, at the National Driver Register, and he and his staff tried to persuade the Indiana BMV to stop advertising those bogus records, as use of the system like this was not within the spirit of the law. Even so, Joel Silverman refused to fix the problem. I contacted a number of Senators and Congressmen to try to raise awareness of this issue. While everyone agreed that publishing these false records is truly an egregious act, there is apparently nothing in the law that exists to stop Indiana from doing it. Apparently, it is the choice of the Indiana BMV to publish or not publish bogus records with my Social Security Number associated with them.

Even so, the good people I have maintained communication with over the past year or so, including Senator Garton, have been very supportive.

I am writing to you to plead for help. I would like those records that falsely bear my name and Social Security Number to be corrected. I would like to request that my Social Security Number be removed from those records so that I am no longer at risk of arrest for "driving with a suspended driver's license." At the very least, please stop advertising to the NDR that I have a suspended license and please take steps to ensure that, in the event that I visit the state of Indiana, I am not at risk of arrest for the same reason.

Sincerely,

Paul E. Jones
1003 Patterson Grove Rd.
Apex, NC 27502
Tel: +1 919 386 8019 (H)
Tel: +1 919 413 8682 (M)
Email: paulej@arid.us