Huntington woman may finally get help from DMV after 'Star Trek'-themed plates she turned in racks up thousands in violations

News 12 was the first to report how Beda Korey faced thousands of dollars in tickets from over a dozen states for a customized license plate she turned into the DMV back in 2020.

Jon Dowding

Dec 12, 2024, 9:23 PM

Updated 14 days ago

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A Huntington woman’s yearslong battle to disconnect her with custom plates she surrendered back in 2020 may finally be over.
News 12 was the first to report about Beda Koorey's battle to distance herself from her "Star Trek"-themed custom plate, NCC 1701. She surrendered the plates in 2020 and the DMV sent her a letter confirming it.
She kept getting tickets mailed to her nationwide from Washington, Illinois, Virginia, at least nine other states nationwide and Montreal, Canada.
Koorey retained an attorney since News 12 last spoke with her. Her attorney, Kenneth Mollins, spoke with the DMV's general counsel about her situation.
Within two days of them speaking, Mollins says a search of Koorey’s old plate finally does not show her info connected to it.
"Everything is taken care of. She is no longer in any way, shape, or form connected to this license plate,” he said.
The DMV tells News 12 the agency has been in contact with Koorey and her attorney about the situation.
Koorey says she still can’t believe part of the battle is over.
"It's still kind of surreal because I've been doing this for four years. I always cry when I talk about it, but you brought this story and then everybody else came and helped,” she said. “But you started it and I thank you very much cause otherwise I'd still be getting this horrible mess."
Koorey also got a call from a New York City official Thursday with more good news. The city is working to dismiss over 190 tickets tied to the plate, totaling over $16,000.
"The next step is to get rid of the fines around the whole country,” said Mollins.
Another issue is plates matching Koorey’s old ones are still being sold on Amazon, and that’s illegal according to a New York State law.
"That's like a store selling illegal guns,” said Koorey.
Koorey just hopes this fix lasts.
"It's fixed now, hopefully,” she said. “And if I get another ticket in the mail next week, I'm just gonna call News 12!"
News 12 previously reached out to Amazon, which said it would investigate and be in touch. News 12 has not received an update since.