Defendant appealed a decision by a trial magistrate upholding violations of R.I.G.L. 1956 § 31-22-22(g) (no seatbelt – operator) and R.I.G.L. 1956 § 31-10-27 (license to be carried and exhibited on demand). Defendant argued that, as a citizen of the Usquepaug Nehantick-Nahaganset Tribe, defendant is a foreign national and the Traffic Tribunal lacked subject matter jurisdiction over him for any traffic violations he committed. The Appeals Panel, however, noted that in accordance with authority granted to it by state statute, and based on the United States Supreme Court decision in Mescalero Apache Tribe v. Jones, the Appeals Panel had subject matter jurisdiction over any traffic violation committed off tribal land and within the state’s borders. Accordingly, the Appeals Panel denied defendant’s appeal and upheld the trial magistrate’s decision.