By Rick Sallinger

DENVER (CBS4) – Thousands of people have gotten Colorado driver’s licenses in the mail with the wrong height listed. They were all people who ordered their renewals by computer between February and March 17, 2017. It was due to a mix-up during the transfer of information.

One of those affected is Emerson. He didn’t want CBS4 to use his last name. He’s a professional driver so his license is very important to him. But when his new license came in the mail he noticed something looked wrong. For height it indicated he is 7-foot-1 tall.

CBS4 checked to find out if that could be right, but when CBS4 Investigator Rick Sallinger used a tape measure he found Emerson to be only 5-foot-11.

It turns out as many as 12,000 people who ordered renewals online got the wrong information printed.

Emerson called the state Tuesday morning.

“They said, ‘Yes, we’re aware of it. There is a large batch of licenses that went out,” he said.

The Department of Revenue is calling it a vendor error. The state sends the height to the company in inches. Lynn Granger, a spokeswoman for the department, says the height information was sent to the vendor in inches.

“Instead of converting to be (5-foot-11), it’s (7-foot-1), so there was just that minor error with the listed height on our driver’s license and identification cards,” she said.

So even though he’s a foot shorter than the height on his driver’s license it might qualify Emerson to try out for the National Basketball Association.

“Have you considered offering yourself to the Denver Nuggets?” Sallinger asked Emerson.

“What for?” he replied.

“It says you’re 7-foot-1,” Sallinger said.

“Maybe if I was younger,” Emerson laughed.

The state says the issue has been resolved and replacement cards are being sent out. No action is necessary by those who received the licenses or ID cards with wrong information. The new cards should arrive no later than March 10.

CBS4’s Rick Sallinger is a Peabody award winning reporter who has been with the station more than two decades doing hard news and investigative reporting. Follow him on Twitter @ricksallinger.