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March 26, 2009

Coffee pays old traffic tickets

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — State Senate President Pro Tem Glenn Coffee says he isn't sure why he didn't take care of two traffic tickets he got in 2000.



He paid them this week after reporters questioned him about them.



Court records show he paid two $90 fines yesterday. One was for speeding on October 17, 2000, and one for driving without a current tag on March 14, 2000.



Coffee says he believes he called or went to the clerk's office in 2000 to pay the tickets but the traffic clerks couldn't find them.



Failure to pay traffic tickets or appear on court by a date specified on the tickets normally leads to an arrest warrant.



But Oklahoma County Court Clerk Patricia Presley says the county switched to a new computer system in 2000 and a glitch prevented the warrants from being issued.



Coffee drew criticism after The Associated Press reported last week that a federal tax lien for $28,822 was filed against him last year for unpaid federal taxes.



He says he paid the taxes by taking out a bank loan at 5.5 percent interest but he's declined to give other details of the loan or the reason for the tax liability.

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