About two months after Michael Pepe was cleared of criminal charges tied to a fatal car accident in which his truck hit another driver head-on, he had to appear at what is commonly known as a Department of Motor Vehicles fatality hearing.

The hearing, and its looming result, meant that the travails for the then-55-year-old Pepe, including a serious threat to his livelihood as a PSEG worker who must drive to sites, were not over. He could easily lose his driver’s license or face other serious DMV penalties, his lawyers had warned him.