Passaic County Students Face Fake ID Concerns
If you are the parent of a Passaic County high school or college student, you may already know that your student could face significant temptation and peer pressure to obtain and use a fake ID. You may trust your student not to do so. But no matter your level of confidence in your student's character, be sure your student knows that Passaic County fake ID charges can carry severe consequences.
It is common knowledge that underage minors shouldn't be using fake ID to buy beer, wine, cigarettes, or e-cigarettes or for entry into adults-only bars and clubs. But Passaic County students also face temptations to use fake ID for access to campus transportation, gymnasiums, computers, libraries, and sports arenas or entertainment halls.
Students at Passaic County Community College, William Paterson University, and other Passaic County area colleges, and high school students in Paterson, Clifton, Passaic, Wayne, West Milford, Hawthorne, and other Passaic County towns and townships face fake ID issues. As a responsible parent, you surely want to ensure that your Passaic County student understands and avoids fake ID temptations and issues.
Passaic County Fake ID Student Problems
No responsible parent wants their student to have anything to do with fake IDs. But Passaic County high school and college students may not be as mature, wise, and well-informed as their parents. Passaic County students may think that fake IDs are no big deal because so many students seem to be using them to buy alcohol in Paterson, Clifton, or Passaic or to get into an adults-only bar or club in Wayne, West Milford, or Hawthorne. On the campus of Passaic County Community College or William Paterson University, they may see other students swapping IDs and using fake IDs for all kinds of school amenities and services. But you know better, and your student should, too. No matter who else or how many are doing it doesn't change that fake ID activities implicate serious crimes and school punishments. If your student doesn't appreciate that truth, then be ready to retain a premier fake ID defense attorney to defend your student's Passaic County fake ID charges.
Passaic County Charges Fake IDs Crimes
Passaic County fake ID misconduct isn't just a simple civil infraction punished with a ticket requiring payment of a small fine. Your Passaic County high school or college student could instead suffer a conviction on serious New Jersey criminal charges and face jail or even prison time. New Jersey law criminalizes all kinds of fake ID misconduct, not just presenting fake ID for alcohol at a Hawthorne retail outlet or bar. Fake ID crimes include other things like fake ID possession outside a Paterson club, buying wine with a fake ID in Clifton, buying vaping materials in Passaic, or tobacco products in Wayne. Treat Passaic County fake ID criminal charges against your Passaic County high school or college student seriously. Hire the best available criminal defense attorney if Passaic County prosecutors charge your student with a fake ID crime.
Passaic County Fake ID Criminal Penalties
With skilled and experienced defense attorney representation to navigate New Jersey's criminal process, your Passaic County high school or college student may be able to avoid the worst penalties. But your student could face as much as ten years in prison and a $150,000 fine just for fake ID crime. Be sure that your Passaic County student knows about fake ID penalties before a senior year in high school or a first year away at college. And if that advice and information comes too late or doesn't convince your student, then retain the best available Passaic County fake ID defense attorney to defend your student against Passaic County fake ID charges.
Passaic County ID Tampering Charges
New Jersey criminalizes four progressively more serious degrees of fake ID crime. New Jersey's least-serious fake ID crime is tampering. New Jersey Statute Section 2C:28-7 defines tampering as when the defendant does one or more of these acts:
"(1) Knowingly makes a false entry in, or false alteration of, any record, document or thing belonging to, or received or kept by, the government for information or record, or required by law to be kept by others for information of the government; (2) Makes, presents, offers for filing, or uses any record, document or thing knowing it to be false, and with purpose that it be taken as a genuine part of information or records referred to in paragraph (1); or (3) Purposely and unlawfully destroys, conceals, removes, mutilates, or otherwise impairs the verity or availability of any such record, document or thing."
A tampering example is if your student changed the birth year on a driver's license for some purpose, like entering an adult-only club or buying alcohol or vaping products. New Jersey law punishes tampering as a low-level disorderly persons offense. But tampering can still bring up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. First-time offenders like an earnest young Passaic County student may face only tampering charges when prosecutors could have brought a more-serious fake ID charge.
Passaic County Fake ID Possession Charges
New Jersey's second progressively higher level of fake ID crime is possessing a fake ID. New Jersey Statute Section 2C:21-2.1(d) defines a possession charge as follows:
"A person who knowingly possesses a document or other writing which falsely purports to be a driver's license, birth certificate, or other document issued by a governmental agency and which could be used as a means of verifying a person's identity or age or any other personal identifying information is guilty of a crime of the fourth degree."
A possession example is if police questioned and searched your underage student outside a Paterson adults-only club while your student waited to enter using a fake ID. New Jersey law makes possession a fourth-degree offense punishable by up to eighteen months in jail and a $10,000 fine. Because other fake ID crimes also involve possession, Passaic County prosecutors may choose the level of fake ID crime to charge using factors like the suspect's age and circumstances, the nature of the activity, and the skill, experience, and reputation of the defense attorney advocating for a dismissed or reduced charge.
Passaic County Fake ID Use Charges
New Jersey's third progressively higher fake ID crime involves not just possessing but using the fake ID. New Jersey Statute Section 2C:21-2.1(c) defines the use crime as follows:
"A person who knowingly exhibits, displays, or utters a document or other writing which falsely purports to be a driver's license, birth certificate, or other document issued by a governmental agency and which could be used as a means of verifying a person's identity or age or any other personal identifying information is guilty of a crime of the third degree."
A use example would be if your student presented a fake ID to buy vaping materials at a Clifton or Wayne retail outlet or for an alcoholic drink at a Paterson bar. New Jersey law defines the use crime as a third-degree offense bringing up to five years in prison and a $15,000 fine. Passaic County prosecutors may charge use as only a possession or even just a tampering crime, depending on the above factors and the advocacy of your student's retained criminal defense counsel seeking to reduce or dismiss the charge. An underage student who uses a fake ID to buy alcohol could also face a minor in possession (MIP) charge.
Passaic County Fake ID Sale Charges
New Jersey's fourth and highest level of fake ID crime involves a fake ID sale or transfer. New Jersey Statute Section 2C:21-2.1(a) defines the sale or transfer crime as follows:
"A person who knowingly sells, offers or exposes for sale, or otherwise transfers, or possesses with the intent to sell, offer or expose for sale, or otherwise transfer, a document, printed form or other writing which falsely purports to be a driver's license, birth certificate, or other document issued by a governmental agency and which could be used as a means of verifying a person's identity or age or any other personal identifying information is guilty of a crime of the second degree."
An example would be if your student then sold or loaned a fake ID to a friend so that the friend could join your student in a bar or club. The fake ID sale crime rises to a second-degree offense with five to ten years imprisonment and up to a $150,000 fine. Your goal when your student faces such a potentially severe charge would be that Passaic County prosecutors charge the sale or transfer crime only as a possession or tampering crime, dependent on the skillful advocacy of your retained defense attorney to dismiss or reduce the charge.
Passaic County Fake ID Charge Impacts
Unfortunately, your Passaic County high school or college student would likely face other serious consequences if convicted of a fake ID crime. New Jersey Statute Section 2C:21-2.1(e) requires driver's license suspension for six months to two years. Your student may also have community service to complete. Passaic County school districts also maintain student codes of conduct punishing fake ID and other crimes. Passaic County Community College, William Paterson University, and other Passaic County area colleges also have policies against student crime. Your student could face school suspension or expulsion or, if not that, then loss of school privileges, honors, and awards. A criminal conviction could also mean that your Passaic County students can't get into a favored college or university or cannot qualify for vocational training, trade or professional licenses, or favorable job opportunities.
Fake ID Attorney for Passaic County Charges
Don't let Passaic County fake ID charges hurt your high school or college student's future. Retain the Lento Law Firm's premier Criminal Defense Team and preeminent New Jersey criminal defense attorney Joseph D. Lento to defend Passaic County fake ID charges. Call 888.535.3686 or go online now for the best available Passaic County fake ID defense representation.
