A Michigan judge tossed Corey Harris, whose earlier court appearance on Zoom over driving with a suspended license went viral, back in jail after it was revealed that Harris never had a valid driver's license, according to a report.
"Let me make it very clear, based on what the court looked at - [Harris] has never had a Michigan license. Ever," Judge Cedric Simpson said during a hearing in Ann Arbor on Wednesday, the Express Tribune reported.
Harris, 44, had insisted that he had been taking steps to reinstate his license, but an investigation showed that he regularly renewed his state ID and did not have a driver's license, the report said.
At the hearing, Simpson admonished Harris for the "hoopla" his viral court appearance in May caused when he alleged he had been arrested because of a clerical error.
Harris claimed that his license was listed as "suspended" over a child support case, blaming the snafu on the Saginaw Friend of the Court for not lifting the suspension after a judge ordered it to be restored in January 2022, the report said.
But court officials said Harris never paid the fees to the clerk's office so the order to lift it was never sent to the Secretary of State.
Simpson said the blame is solely on Harris.
"The person that needed to be blamed is the person that he was staring at in the mirror," Simpson said. "He didn't do what he should have done."
Simpson revealed at the end of the hearing that there was a bench warrant for Harris' arrest, stemming from a 2015 case of driving while his license was suspended.
Harris caused a sensation when he joined a court hearing on Zoon May 15 while driving a car.
"Mr Harris are you driving?" Simpson asked.
"Actually, I'm pulling into my doctor's office," Harris replied. "Just give me one second. I'm parking right now."
Simpson then revoked Harris' bond and ordered him to surrender to jail by 6 p.m. that day.
