FORT MYERS, Fla. - Ron Garvin says he's a law abiding citizen. He's never had a run in with the law. But he spent an evening in jail and owes hundreds in fines, all because he didn't notice his transponder didn't fire.

Over the bridges to Cape Coral or the causeway to Sanibel, transponders help drivers avoid the lines and get in the fast lane to their destination. But for Ron Gavin it landed him in jail!

"To be thrown in jail for something that I totally feel I had no knowledge was going on was totally traumatic," said Gavin.

It happened while he was taking a few months in Tennessee to help his sister renovate her home. He got pulled over making an illegal U-turn.

"I got pulled over for a traffic violation. Found out that my license was suspended back in Florida," said Gavin.

After making bail, Ron found out his evening in jail was because of unpaid tolls in Lee County.

"I had 13 toll of these supposed violations, which I had no knowledge of," said Gavin, "I assumed when I closed my business down my transponder was not booted up I'm assuming."

Ron says he never received letters sent by LeeWay and the fines started growing.

"They took all 13 of 'em. Ran 'em through $2300 it's $185-80 a per ticket and that's extremely extravagant," said Gavin.

"When you receive a toll due notice, I know it's only $5, don't ignore it," said LeeWay spokeswoman Susan Hopwood.

Hopwood says LeeWay sent notices to the address on Ron's drivers license.

"We're using that address because legally you're supposed to have it changed within ten days," said Hopwood, "So it should be your most current address and it should be your valid address."

She says about 32 percent of fines LeeWay issues actually go to people who own transponders. Typically, it's because the batteries are bad, they simply ran out of money in the account or the person put the transponder in a car not registered with LeeWay and so the system couldn't match the car to the account.

If you go through the toll plaza and get a red light, she says make sure you call.

"Ask them questions. Make sure that you're vehicle information is correct in your account and that to see whether or not it read. If you're having a problem we can go ahead and address it at that time," said Hopwood.

Ron says he never noticed he went through the toll plaza without paying.

"Half the time you're got people on your tail, running through it, so you're just flying through. You're not knowing what's going on. There's no arm," said Gavin.

Ron eventually got a judge to reduce the number of tickets from 13 to five.

Unemployed, he doesn't know how he'll pay the $900 in fines, but that's not all.

"My reputation. My just being locked up in jail overnight in a strange town for one. And then my kids, I always try to tell them to obey the law and be respectful. To have to have their father explain why he's locked up in jail and its for something as idiotic as a toll violation," said Gavin.

LeeWay says to make sure you don't end up with a fine that gets out of hand:
- Always update your information with LeeWay
- Use your transponder in the car its assigned to, or else they won't match that car to the account
- Replace your batteries
- And if you notice your transponder didn't work, don't stop and back up to try and pay. Just call LeeWay to get it straightened out