Aggravated unlicensed operation, commonly known among New York traffic attorneys as AUO, it’s a crime here in upstate New York. The most commonly charged AUO offense is AUO 3rd, or Aggravated Unlicensed Operation in the Third Degree. This usually happens when someone drives with a suspended license.
Usually the defendant was fined somewhere and failed to ensure that the fine was resolved. In most cases, they just ignored it. In others, they did communicate with the Court to some extent, but did not follow up properly. If the Court decides that the defendant did not “show up” (by not responding at all or did not show up when he was supposed to), or did not pay the fine, the Court notifies DMV of a “cheater.” DMV sends a notice of suspension to the address it has for the defendant. The notice gives 30 days to correct the problem.
In some cases, the defendant receives the tip and ignores it, leading to suspension. In what appears to be more cases, the defendant moved, failed to notify DMV of the new address, and did not issue a reshipment order at the post office. In these cases, the defendant was not actually notified of the suspension, but that does not save him from the consequences. You have a duty to notify DMV of your address, and it is actually common sense to make sure the post office forwards the mail.
We can generally reduce these AUO charges to misdemeanors. We first help our client to clarify the suspensions. Then we talk to the prosecutor and the court. Two common reductions are “Unlicensed Operator” and “Aggravated Unlicensed Operation Facilitation.” The latter is generally better as it doesn’t put you behind the wheel of the car and we think it’s better for insurance purposes, although it does carry a higher fine.
There are places where judges or prosecutors will not agree to reductions, so make sure to keep track of your fines.
There are higher level offenses, AUO 2nd and AUO 1st. They usually involve driving with a lot of suspensions or some connection to alcohol. Most courts and prosecutors treat them more seriously. In our experience, these cases are rare.