Once a college rite, underage students caught with fake IDs face thousands in legal fees

It was his freshman year.

The University of Florida student had just returned from a night out drinking with friends in 2018 when he was caught by university police with a fake ID – one he said he wasn’t even using that night.

His friends had bought him alcohol, but he drank too much and fell asleep in the common area of Rawlings Hall, where his friend lived. A university police officer searched his wallet and discovered his fake ID, he said. He remembered being told he might get an email from the university and that otherwise he was “good to go.”

Two months later, his parents received a letter in the mail from the Alachua County court clerk’s office. The fake ID he had obtained for less than $100 would ultimately cost him about $2,500 – mostly in attorney’s fees.

“I wasn’t really doing anything other than sleeping,” he said. “They kind of seemed deceptive towards me, telling me that everything’s fine. Then they slapped me with a felony.”

Read more: https://www.gainesville.com/story/weather/2022/05/09/college-students-gainesville-face-thousands-fines-fake-ids/9704235002/