Beda Koorey, a retired legal secretary, returned her license plates stamped with “NCC 1701,” like the identifying tag of the U.S.S. Enterprise in the “Star Trek” series, to the Department of Motor Vehicles in New York in April 2020.
But in August of that year, a $50 ticket for speeding in the Bronx arrived in the mailbox at her Long Island home in Huntington, N.Y., even though she had stopped driving in June as her eyesight weakened.
Then another ticket arrived, and another.
Apparently, “Star Trek” fans were still out there, some doing their imitation of warp-drive speed on the roads, or just driving badly, and using replicas of the plates with the starship tag.
“There is even one of ‘me’ driving a motorcycle,” she said.
When she returned the personalized plates that she no longer wanted to pay for, and which had been purchased in 1998 by her former husband, a Trekkie, she was given a receipt that said “plates destroyed.” But for the next four years, Ms. Koorey, 75, was entangled in state bureaucracy and caught in the zeal of “Star Trek” fans who had ordered similar Enterprise-themed novelty tags from online retailers that were erroneously traced back to her. She said she received hundreds of violations without driving a car.
On Amazon, a New York-like plate stamped with “NCC 1701” sells for $14. Such plates are unofficial, meant for display only, for bicycles or to be fastened to toys, but when affixed on vehicles they can generate captures from road-safety cameras and trigger the type of violations that ended up plaguing Ms. Koorey.
Ms. Koorey has amassed a stack of tickets that assume she has been flouting the law in a cross-country spree captured on camera and on random vehicles with U.S.S. Enterprise plates in more than 20 states, including Washington, Ohio, Texas, Florida and, well, New York.
In New York City alone, the Department of Finance said in November that she owed $16,585.22 for violations and penalties, a document from the department shows. There were tickets for speeding in a school zone, driving in a bus lane and other toll infractions — even, supposedly, for her involvement in robberies in Ohio and in Canada. All were misunderstandings that she had to clear up over the phone, Ms. Koorey said in an interview.
She said she had contacted the D.M.V., government representatives and law enforcement officials in the jurisdictions issuing the tickets or violations to have them dismiss the fines and get her name completely removed from online records. “I have been dealing with these people every day on the phone, trying to tell these people, ‘It’s not me,’” she said.
It is illegal in New York to drive with plates purchased from an unofficial online retailer. Names of previous drivers are not unlinked from records of old or expired plates, although they are marked as surrendered and destroyed when turned in.
“To be clear, for a number of reasons including law enforcement purposes, there is no such thing as ‘de-linking’ a customer in the DMV system from a plate that was legitimately registered to them,” Lisa Koumjian, a deputy commissioner for the Department of Motor Vehicles in Albany, N.Y., said in an emailed statement.
In 2022, the department sent a letter to Ms. Koorey to confirm that she “should not be held accountable” for any violations issued after the date she surrendered the plates, Ms. Koumjian said, adding that the department has made clear that they were returned.
“We share in Ms. Koorey’s frustration and believe it should be directed at the tolling and billing entities who have victimized her with their inability, or worse yet unwillingness, to properly ensure they are billing the correct individual,” Ms. Koumjian said.
Ryan Lavis, a spokesman at the New York City Department of Finance, which collects the fines but does not issue them, said on Friday that its advocate was working with Ms. Koorey. “We urge anyone who feels they have unfairly received a camera violation linked to a fraudulent license plate to reach out,” he said.
State authorities across the nation have tried to address the misuse of trade-in, fake or online license plates and temporary tags, often placed on vehicles to cover up crimes, evade traffic violations or avoid insurance costs. Ms. Koumjian said that the department was aware of similar cases and assisted law enforcement when necessary.
Ms. Koorey’s ordeal became broadly publicized when a local news station, News 12 Long Island, reported on it this month, drawing the attention of a lawyer, Kenneth Mollins, who handles traffic cases in New York, has access to official records and offered to help her.
On Dec. 6, Mr. Mollins pulled up a record from the Department of Motor Vehicles that showed Ms. Koorey’s name and address were still connected to the “NCC 1701” plate. He contacted senior D.M.V. officials, including their general counsel. On Dec. 19, he repeated the search and her name did not appear on the site, he said.
Ms. Koorey’s trail of tickets appears to be coming to an end, with many dismissed, but there are still a large number outstanding, Mr. Mollins said.
She wants to put it all behind her. “I am going to dig a hole and put them in a plastic bag and bury it in the yard,” she said of the stack of tickets and documents. “I am afraid to burn them. I am afraid if this comes up again, it’s going to be hell.”
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