Officials forgive parking ticket of Marine stationed in Iraq

SACO – Los Angeles officials have forgiven the parking ticket of a Marine whose travails over the citation stirred sympathy on both coasts.

Cpl. Brad Gaumont, 23, was stationed in Iraq when he received a notice saying he’d been charged a late fee for failing to pay a ticket he was issued shortly before shipping out.

Gaumont wrote in a letter to his mother, Janice Goulet of Saco, “Mom, I’m in a kind of a bind here. Can you tell them I’ll pay for the ticket when I get back to the U.S.?”

By the time Goulet called Los Angeles to deal with the matter, the $45 parking ticket had ballooned to $100, she said.

Officials told Goulet that late fees would continue to accrue until Gaumont paid it. But the Marine didn’t have access to his money while stationed in Iraq.

After news reports about the snafu, Goulet got a phone call Wednesday from the office of Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn saying the ticket and the late fees would be forgiven.

The next day, the Los Angeles Police Protective League offered to pay the ticket, but Goulet told them the situation had already been resolved.

“Meanwhile, my son knows nothing of this,” Goulet said. “He’s made national news over a foolish parking ticket.”

She said Gaumont, who wants to become a police officer, would probably be embarrassed by all the attention.