“Gentlemen, This is Football”: Why You Can Go to Prison for Driving Suspended (Even If You Didn’t Know)

By: John Guidry

We are going to examine a particularly serious version of driving on a suspended license: Driving as a Habitual Traffic Offender (HTO). The punishment in these cases can be harsh.

• The Charge: It is a Third-Degree Felony punishable by up to 5 years in prison.
• The Reality: In Orange, Osceola, and Seminole Counties, judges are increasingly handing out jail—and sometimes prison—time for this offense.

Today, we are going to meet a driver who received a 365-day jail sentence just for driving his car. His name is Henry Robinson. And his case, Robinson v. State, 2020 Fla. App. LEXIS 621 (Fla. 2d DCA 2020), changed the rules of the game.

Did you get arrested for HTO even though you never got a letter from the DMV?

The law has changed, but we can still fight the record. Call John today at (407) 423-1117.

The HTO Trap: A 5-Year Surprise

For those unfamiliar, an HTO revocation is a 5-year license suspension that triggers automatically when you get 3 qualifying convictions (usually 3 Driving While License Suspended tickets) within 5 years.

• The Problem: This suspension is a surprise to almost every driver. The DMV is supposed to mail you a notice, but the DMV does not have a perfect track record with the post office.
• The Argument: Robinson argued that the State failed to prove he received notice of the suspension. He asked for his conviction to be overturned because he didn’t know he was HTO.

The Ruling: Back to Basics

For years, defense attorneys relied on cases like Rodgers v. State, which said the State must prove three things:

1. The license was revoked as HTO.
2. The DMV gave notice of the revocation.
3. The defendant drove.

The Vince Lombardi Moment: In Robinson, the Appeals Court realized they had been making a mistake for years. Like Vince Lombardi holding up a football and telling his pro team, “Gentlemen, this is football,” the Court went back to the basics of Florida Statute 322.34(5).

• The Text: The statute says a person is guilty if their license is revoked and they drive.
• The Missing Word: Nowhere in the statute does it say the person must receive “Notice.”

The Outcome: The Court admitted its “inadvertent mistake” and overruled the old cases.

“If a person has had his or her driver license revoked as an HTO and he or she drives… the offense has been committed. Quite obviously, the word ‘notice’ is nowhere to be found.”

The Result: Strict Liability. If you are HTO and you drive, you are guilty of a felony, even if the DMV letter never arrived.

The Strategy: Attack the Record, Not the Notice

Since Robinson killed the “I didn’t know” defense at trial, how do we win? We beat HTO cases by preparation, not by jury.

• The Fix: We investigate the underlying convictions that caused the 5-year suspension. If we can vacate just one of those old tickets (D6 suspensions, unpaid fines, or bad pleas), the HTO status collapses.
• The Motion in Limine: Once we fix the driving record administratively, we present the Corrected Record to the prosecutor. If you aren’t HTO anymore, they can’t prosecute you for HTO. The felony disappears.

John’s 2026 Update: The Digital Trap & ALPRs

Note: In 2020, they argued about mail. In 2026, they argue about your phone.

1. Florida Smart ID (The End of “Lost Mail”) In 2026, most Floridians use the Florida Smart ID app.

• The Law: When you sign up for the app, you consent to receive digital notices.
• The Trap: If the DMV suspends you, they send a push notification to your phone. The State now argues that the “ping” on your lock screen is proof of knowledge. Even though Robinson says they don’t need to prove notice, prosecutors love to show the jury the “Notification Read” timestamp just to make you look bad.

2. Automated License Plate Readers (ALPR) In the past, you had to speed to get pulled over.

• The 2026 Reality: Police cruisers are equipped with constant-scan ALPRs. As you drive down I-4, the camera reads your plate, checks the owner’s status, and alerts the officer: “Alert: Owner HTO Suspended.”
• The Result: You get pulled over without committing a single traffic infraction. You cannot hide in traffic anymore.

3. The “Clerical Error” Defense With everything digital, DMV glitches are more common but harder to prove.

• The Strategy: We now hire digital forensic experts to audit the DMV’s suspension timeline. If the algorithm suspended you 24 hours before the ticket hit the system (a common glitch), we argue the suspension was invalid at the moment of the stop.

Fix Your License Before You Drive

The Robinson ruling makes it clear: The courts don’t care if you didn’t know. If the computer says you are suspended, you are going to jail. The only way to stay free is to fix the computer record before you get behind the wheel.

Call me at (407) 423-1117. Let’s audit your driving record.

About John Guidry II

John Guidry II is a seasoned criminal defense attorney and founder of the Law Firm of John P. Guidry II, P.A., located in downtown Orlando next to the Orange County Courthouse, where he has practiced for over 30 years. With more than three decades of experience defending clients throughout Central Florida since 1993, Guidry has successfully defended thousands of cases in Orange, Seminole, Osceola, Brevard, Lake, and Volusia counties. He has built a reputation for his strategic approach to criminal defense, focusing on pretrial motions and case dismissals rather than jury trials.

Guidry earned both his Juris Doctorate and Master of Business Administration from St. Louis University in 1993. He is a member of the Florida Bar and the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. His practice encompasses the full spectrum of Florida state criminal charges, with a particular emphasis on achieving favorable outcomes through thorough pretrial preparation and motion practice.

Beyond the courtroom, Guidry is a prolific legal educator who has authored over 400 articles on criminal defense topics. He shares his legal expertise through his popular YouTube channel, Instagram, and TikTok accounts, where he has built a substantial following of people eager to learn about the law. His educational content breaks down complex legal concepts into accessible information for the general public.

When not practicing law, Guidry enjoys tennis and pickleball, and loves to travel. Drawing from his background as a former recording studio owner and music video producer in the Orlando area, he brings a creative perspective to his legal practice and continues to apply his passion for video production to his educational content.