Vincent's wife did not know who to send this letter to, which is what started this campaign to crowd fund Vincent's attorney fees for his license restoration. The letter is very informative of his situation and his legal position. Any judge wanting to see justice in this case would rule in favor of restoring Vincent's driver's license...32 years is a long time to go without a license over bureaucratic incompetence.
The letter Vincent wrote is copied and pasted below. If you can get it to a judge or know of an attorney who'd assist Vincent in this battle, please forward a copy of it.
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Dear Your Honor;
My name is Vincent Nick Ciofani. I was born on August 31st, 1964 in Detroit, Michigan. I'm almost 50 years old now.
I lost my driver's license when I was 18 years old over drunk driving offenses I neglected to take care of. My case was given to the Driver's License Appeal Division (DLAD). I was later incarcerated for a felony offense and I received a letter from the Secretary of State stating that my driver's license was cleared and that I could reacquire it by presenting the letter to the Secretary of State upon my release from prison. But the letter was lost before it could be forwarded to me and, when I tried to get my license back, the DLAD was still on record with a hold on my license. I was on parole and was already fulfilling the requirements to attend AA to fulfill my parole obligations. I'd also fulfilled their year of AA attendance requirement the first time I was on parole, before I was violated for visiting my ex-wife and kids without permission from a parole agent (due to a glitch, when I transferred to the Detroit/Pontiac area from Ionia I was never given an agent to report to, which eventually resulted in the violation). So I scheduled a meeting and interview with the DLAD as required and was rejected by the interviewer via a letter.
My current wife and I then endured years of homelessness and I was unable to pursue reacquiring my license due to the harsh situations. Which, in turn, caused me to be turned down for good-paying mechanic jobs (that I was more than qualified for) simply because insurance would not cover me to move cars and trucks across the lot to the garage without a valid driver's license. Which made it all but impossible to fulfill my child support obligations at the time and my wife had to cover my payments for me for years.
I've endured not having a driver's license for 32 years. I admit that, due to my own lack of responsibility and regard for the law at the time, I did deserve to lose my license for a period of 4-7 years. But it's now 32 years later and the DLAD is still sitting on my driver's license like a tired old dinosaur with the same hold requiring that I redo all of the same stuff to re-fulfill all of the same requirements, which is ludicrous. It goes against my religious beliefs to lie and say that I'm powerless over alcohol at those meetings when the only 2 things I'm powerless over now are fudgesicles and homemade fudge...Oh, and my health issues (so that's 3 things, none of which are alcohol). I actually have an aversion to alcohol and very rarely can stomach even a few beers when I try to socialize with drinkers...Which is why I rarely socialize with drinkers. I never touch any of that hard poison I used to drink as a kid, back when I had the drunk driving offenses.
I was a retard as a kid. But I haven't been a kid for a very long time. I'd like to get back into the workforce and feel like I could possibly do something, if only part time, if I had the independence that others have. I look like a retard to potential employers with the transportation issues of always having to center my schedule around my wife's so that she can drive me to and from work. Try to picture it, if you will.
The reason for this letter is I'd like to find a Judge with the power to grant my license back who can see that this prolonged isolation has far surpassed the intent of the law. My only hope of getting my license back from the DLAD is to find that one upstanding Judge who'd like to see justice served in my case. Because, even if I do jump through their hoops again and fulfill their requirements a third time, they can still deny me at the interview like they did before (the guy disliked me from the moment we met). It's already bad enough that I'll incur reinstatement and retesting expenses due to how long this has drawn out. To require me to now attend AA for a year before considering me for an interview is ridiculous when you consider that I do not drink alcohol and have not drank alcohol in years, nor do I have a "problem" with alcohol (my wife's alcohol that she keeps around for entertaining friends never gets raided by me like it does by those who do have driver's licenses)...I kinda' can't stomach the stuff, to tell the truth.
If you can issue an order that my license be reinstated by the Seceretary of State, that'd save the taxpayers money in the long run and may even eventually generate some revenue from the taxes I'll eventually be paying when I do eventually find gainful employment again. After 32 years of being dependent on others, I can assure you that I'd never jeopardize my license by drinking and driving again.
May you accept this letter as me filing the appropriate motion or whatever fufills the requirement of the law and then rule on it favorably would be all that I could ask, Your Honor. And I thank you in advance for your time and consideration, regardless of what you decide.
Have a good one.
Sincerely;
My name is Vincent Nick Ciofani. I was born on August 31st, 1964 in Detroit, Michigan. I'm almost 50 years old now.
I lost my driver's license when I was 18 years old over drunk driving offenses I neglected to take care of. My case was given to the Driver's License Appeal Division (DLAD). I was later incarcerated for a felony offense and I received a letter from the Secretary of State stating that my driver's license was cleared and that I could reacquire it by presenting the letter to the Secretary of State upon my release from prison. But the letter was lost before it could be forwarded to me and, when I tried to get my license back, the DLAD was still on record with a hold on my license. I was on parole and was already fulfilling the requirements to attend AA to fulfill my parole obligations. I'd also fulfilled their year of AA attendance requirement the first time I was on parole, before I was violated for visiting my ex-wife and kids without permission from a parole agent (due to a glitch, when I transferred to the Detroit/Pontiac area from Ionia I was never given an agent to report to, which eventually resulted in the violation). So I scheduled a meeting and interview with the DLAD as required and was rejected by the interviewer via a letter.
My current wife and I then endured years of homelessness and I was unable to pursue reacquiring my license due to the harsh situations. Which, in turn, caused me to be turned down for good-paying mechanic jobs (that I was more than qualified for) simply because insurance would not cover me to move cars and trucks across the lot to the garage without a valid driver's license. Which made it all but impossible to fulfill my child support obligations at the time and my wife had to cover my payments for me for years.
I've endured not having a driver's license for 32 years. I admit that, due to my own lack of responsibility and regard for the law at the time, I did deserve to lose my license for a period of 4-7 years. But it's now 32 years later and the DLAD is still sitting on my driver's license like a tired old dinosaur with the same hold requiring that I redo all of the same stuff to re-fulfill all of the same requirements, which is ludicrous. It goes against my religious beliefs to lie and say that I'm powerless over alcohol at those meetings when the only 2 things I'm powerless over now are fudgesicles and homemade fudge...Oh, and my health issues (so that's 3 things, none of which are alcohol). I actually have an aversion to alcohol and very rarely can stomach even a few beers when I try to socialize with drinkers...Which is why I rarely socialize with drinkers. I never touch any of that hard poison I used to drink as a kid, back when I had the drunk driving offenses.
I was a retard as a kid. But I haven't been a kid for a very long time. I'd like to get back into the workforce and feel like I could possibly do something, if only part time, if I had the independence that others have. I look like a retard to potential employers with the transportation issues of always having to center my schedule around my wife's so that she can drive me to and from work. Try to picture it, if you will.
The reason for this letter is I'd like to find a Judge with the power to grant my license back who can see that this prolonged isolation has far surpassed the intent of the law. My only hope of getting my license back from the DLAD is to find that one upstanding Judge who'd like to see justice served in my case. Because, even if I do jump through their hoops again and fulfill their requirements a third time, they can still deny me at the interview like they did before (the guy disliked me from the moment we met). It's already bad enough that I'll incur reinstatement and retesting expenses due to how long this has drawn out. To require me to now attend AA for a year before considering me for an interview is ridiculous when you consider that I do not drink alcohol and have not drank alcohol in years, nor do I have a "problem" with alcohol (my wife's alcohol that she keeps around for entertaining friends never gets raided by me like it does by those who do have driver's licenses)...I kinda' can't stomach the stuff, to tell the truth.
If you can issue an order that my license be reinstated by the Seceretary of State, that'd save the taxpayers money in the long run and may even eventually generate some revenue from the taxes I'll eventually be paying when I do eventually find gainful employment again. After 32 years of being dependent on others, I can assure you that I'd never jeopardize my license by drinking and driving again.
May you accept this letter as me filing the appropriate motion or whatever fufills the requirement of the law and then rule on it favorably would be all that I could ask, Your Honor. And I thank you in advance for your time and consideration, regardless of what you decide.
Have a good one.
Sincerely;
Vincent Nick Ciofani
POB 105
Grayling, MI 49738
989-889-6506
POB 105
Grayling, MI 49738
989-889-6506
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