Judge orders 'STAYUMBL' driver not to drive for two years

Diana Taije Mems, 51, pleaded guilty to reckless driving and speeding in connection with a January incident on Glenwood Avenue. She was sentenced to 80 days in jail, which was suspended to two years on probation. In addition to ordering her not to get behind the wheel, Superior Court Judge Paul Ridgeway ordered that she undergo a mental examination.

Mems said after the brief hearing that she just wants all of the scrutiny to be over.

Mems changed her license plate, which she said was to honor her mother, a few months ago.

Wake County Assistant District Attorney Shaun Taylor said a Raleigh police officer clocked Mems driving 68 mph in a 45-mph zone on Jan. 17, and she was weaving among other cars without signaling as she changed lanes.

When the officer pulled her over, Mems argued that he had stopped the wrong car, Taylor said.

"Driving, for the citizens of North Carolina, is a privilege and not a right. Throughout her history of being able to drive in North Carolina, she has abused that privilege," Taylor said, citing a litany of traffic offenses she's been convicted of in the past.

Durham police: 'STAYUMBL' driver believes everyone else trying to run her off road

The state Department of Insurance has 41 open fraud investigations involving Mems to determine if any of the dozens of crashes she's been involved in since 2000 have been staged to collect an insurance payout, Taylor added.

Authorities have said that Mems has used 18 aliases and had a fake address on her driver's license. Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman has asked the state Division of Motor Vehicles to merge the records of Mems' aliases to make sure authorities have her accurate driving record.

"At the time that she got cited, she was coming out of a period of homelessness," defense attorney Brennon Morton said. "The state has mentioned a lot about these different IDs and different driver's licenses and different aliases, but the back story behind that is not what we've heard."

Lawyer: 'STAYUMBL' driver a victim of 'social media frenzy'

Morton said that Mems' driving record has been fairly clean in recent years and that she's received a bad rap on social media.

Durham police have been working with the DOI on the fraud investigations, he said, and authorities are close to closing the file on Mems without finding any wrongdoing.

Morton asked Ridgeway to let the DMV determine Mems' driving privileges, saying that she needs to be able to drive so she can work.

"She has not been able to work, and her life has come to a screeching halt for the past four, four-and-a-half months while this case has been pending," Morton said.

When Mems surrendered to authorities in May – a failure to appear warrant was issued for he after she missed her first court date – a condition of her bond was that she surrender her driver's license.