Long-haul driver has long list of violations

A 40-year-old long haul truck driver who has failed since last year to appear for his First District Court hearings on a plethora of commercial vehicle violations will be sentenced next month as part of a plea agreement.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys this week said they are eying a fine for Haitham Omar Joudeh’s trucking transgressions and possible forfeiture of the $2,500 bond Joudeh posted in September after spending a night in the Kootenai County jail.

The Gig Harbor, Wash., man is charged with six misdemeanors, including driving without a CDL, driving without a logbook, not having in his possession a medical card, not having the proper vehicle markings on his truck, not having his vehicle registration or permits, and for operating a commercial vehicle without authority, according to court records. He was also cited for using a radar detector. All the charges are misdemeanors that carry fines totaling more than $3,400.

But since pleading not guilty to the charges in September, Joudeh — who goes by the name “Mike” — has not set foot in a Kootenai County courtroom.

“He is a truck driver and he is on the road,” his attorney, public defender Jed Nixon said at an earlier hearing before Magistrate Judge Timothy Van Valin. “He has completed some necessary steps for the state. We have several alleged violations and this is a matter of some being more damaging than others to his license and job.”

When Joudeh was stopped by police on Haycraft Avenue in Coeur d’Alene while towing a sailboat behind a Ford truck on a trailer that had no license plates, he told police he had no paperwork for the trailer or the boat. He was hauling the boat to Washington from Florida, he told police.

According to a report by Trooper Gerald A. Stemm, Joudeh was “pulling a large boat trailer with a very large and wide sailboat.”

The scaled weight of the load was 28,000 pounds, but the truck was rated to haul 14,000 pounds. The boat was 9 and a half feet wide, according to police. Joudeh was hauling for a company called Pacific Trade and Transport LLC, police said. Further inquiry showed the company had no operating authority, according to a police report.

Prosecutors said they would not consider dismissing any of the charges as part of a plea bargain until Joudeh showed proof of his commercial driver’s qualifications.

At a Thursday hearing sans Joudeh, sentencing was postponed until Aug. 23, after Nixon asked the court for a continuance so a plea agreement could be solidified.

“There are requests to pleas to charges that would affect his current CDL,” Nixon said. “We are only asking to switch those and pay a higher fine.”

Van Valin agreed to postpone sentencing for Joudeh, who has not appeared for six hearings since last fall. Joudeh’s 16 Kootenai County driving convictions go back to 1996 and include convictions for racing on a public highway, speeding, running stop signs, driving without a license and not having proof of insurance.