Fraud, Embezzlement, Bad Checks please help me - criminal citation for a bad check passed in 1995

[jellojellojello]

I was recently pulled over for going through a red light in Massachusetts... the cop that pulled me over ran my license and said he was supposed to arrest me for passing a bad check in 1995. Due to this bad check, he said that my license had been revoked in MA (I currently reside in RI) and he said that although he was not going to arrest me, he gave me a criminal citation for driving with a suspended license. I have the court date coming up next month but the only charge is driving without a license, not the bad check. How do I go about clearing up the check and getting my license re-instated? Can I drive in RI even though my license is revoked in MA? Is this a check that was made out to the DMV or is this a law that any bounced check gets a license revoked? How much trouble am I in and why is it only coming up now after 13 years (I got my license renewed in 2006 and had a speeding violation in MA last year)??
Thank you for any help!

 

[lwpat]

There is no way for us to know. Contact the MA DMV and find out. It is legal for you to drive in RI. MA can suspend your right to drive in their state so you really need to get this straightened out and get a letter of reinstatement form the MA DMV. Then the judge may let you simply send in all the paperwork and request a dismissal.

 

[jellojellojello]

thank you for your help! I went to the dmv and it turns out it was a check for $35 that I bounced back in 1995 for a parking ticket. I was able to pay and get a letter of reinstatement with no problem. I still have to go to court for the traffic violation but I'm not as scared of that as I was about the bad check. I am still mystified at how it went unnoticed for such a long time...it's not like I assumed another name and was hiding from the law- A simple notice sent in the mail would have prompted me to take care of it a long time ago.