It’s secret and small. It’s hidden and often goes unnoticed, but it could set off an avalanche of consequences if found. Fake IDs provide underage high school and college students with the opportunity to sneak into the adult world, but is the risk of obtaining and using one worth the potential punishments if busted?
Defense attorney Sam Shamansky said the consequences for being found with an invalid ID can vary based on different factors, including a person’s age and the ID card itself.
“If you’re charged as an adult, meaning you’re over 18 and under 21, the charge is a first degree misdemeanor,” he explained. “You could conceivably go to jail for up to 180 days and pay a $1,000 fine.”
The consequences for getting caught are more severe if a fake ID has an underage person’s picture but another person’s details, Bexley Police Department Juvenile Detective Darren Briley explained.
“That holds more of the weight of identity fraud,” he said. “Now you’re using someone else’s identity as your own, and that’s a felony.”
However, people who use fake IDs aren’t the only ones that would get caught, Briley added.
“Manufacturing them, possessing them, using them and passing them off as your own are all within that same offense,” he said.
Shamansky explained his job is to limit the amount of punishment the defendant receives in court.
“We try to get the charges dismissed or engage in some sort of diversion program,” he said.
A diversion program, Shamansky explained, reduces the punishment exacted by having the defendant do community service or take a class; for cases surrounding fake IDs, they might take a class on alcohol abuse to understand their dangerous behaviors.
Ethan Gammage, head bartender and former head of security at Midway, a bar on High Street, said the job of checking IDs is up to multiple different employees.
“The bouncer’s role is to verify that someone is of age,” he explained. “However, the responsibility does not fall solely on them. It is the bartender’s responsibility at every point of sale to verify the age of the person they are serving alcohol to.”
He added quizzing people on certain information is one way of determining if someone’s ID is fake; however, he said the most obvious clue is a person’s body language.
Gammage explained most of the fake IDs he comes across are not from current high school students but recent graduates pursuing the “college experience.”
“One of the first things they do is get in touch with their friends and get an order of IDs,” he said.
Briley explained bartenders can be penalized for serving alcohol to underage people, whether they do so intentionally or not.
“They could get fired, get a huge fine or get their liquor license taken away from them,” he said.
Both bartenders and the user of a fake ID can face consequences if they’re caught, Gammage explained.
“From what I’ve seen, both parties get taken out in handcuffs,” he said.
However, Gammage added because of the fast-paced environment in bars, it is often difficult to catch a bartender serving someone underage.
The Bexley Police Department receives a low number of fake ID cases, Briley said. His prior department in Oklahoma saw many more, due to there being two colleges and four bars within their jurisdiction, he explained.
“The majority of the time underage people want to get alcohol, it’s not going to be within Bexley,” he added. “We find a fake ID in their possession, even if they’re not necessarily trying to use it.”
Once the police department has confiscated an ID, they dispose of it at the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, Briley explained. Someone can only carry their sibling’s or parent’s ID if that person is with them, he said.
“If you are holding your sibling’s ID and we end up taking it, now they have to go get a brand new one,” Briley said.
Shamansky explained the first steps one would take after being caught with a fake ID.
“The average person’s going to get a ticket; they could jail you but they typically don’t,” he said. “You then are required to appear in court in a couple of weeks in an arraignment.”
Additionally, Briley said the punishment for getting caught with a fake ID is rarely carried out in its entirety.
“You’re probably not going to see anywhere close to a $1,000 fine or six months in jail, but, as a misdemeanor offense, that is the maximum punishment that you could get,” he said.
Getting caught with a fake ID is not worth the risk, Briley added.
“If you’re using a fake ID or a fake driver’s license, you could get your driving privileges suspended,” he said. “Same thing with using a suspended driver’s license.”
Even when the consequences are limited, Shamansky said the damages can last a lifetime.
“You have a criminal record, which depending on where you are in the educational process could be very detrimental,” he explained.
