A federal grand jury indicted a university student Monday on several charges related to the producing and selling of fake IDs.
According to the 16-count indictment, Theodore Michaels, 20, and a “co-conspirator” who is also a university student allegedly produced and sold fake Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania driver’s licenses to individuals under the age of 21 from October to December 2009, according to the state’s U.S. Attorney’s Office.
If convicted, Michaels faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison for the conspiracy, 15 years for each of the seven counts of the production and transfer of fraudulent identification documents, and another 15 years for possessing document-making implements, the U.S. attorney’s office said. He could also face a $12,500 fine in addition to jail time.
Michaels, a Potomac native, was released after his Greenbelt court appearance Wednesday.
Marcia Murphy, spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney’s office, could neither give details about nor identify the co-conspirator but said the unnamed student had not yet been charged.
“Based on the indictment papers, I would say [the co-conspirator was] not charged,” Murphy said. “I’m not sure if they’re in trouble at all, but right now, he’s not charged.”
Court documents said Michaels is charged with making seven different fake IDs, but Murphy said that may not be the total number of IDs he allegedly sold.
“He was charged for seven in the indictment, but that’s a definite number,” she said. “Because they’re seeking a forfeiture of $12,500, that would indicate there were more.”
According to documents obtained by The Diamondback, Michaels allegedly charged $100 to $170 for each license and allegedly offered a free license to anyone who referred five new customers to him. The documents also allege that Michaels and his partner created the IDs in their dorm room using “an identification card printer and encoder, a thermal printer used to create false holograms of state seals and other tools.”
Michaels and his partner allegedly asked that customers provide photographs, names, addresses, dates of birth and other information they wanted on their fake IDs, the documents said.
The U.S. attorney’s office said the IDs featured holograms that appeared to be authentic and magnetic strips encoded with data that could be read when swiped.
Murphy said she is unsure if any of the ID customers will get in any legal trouble, but the U.S. attorney’s office has their names.
University Police Chief David Mitchell declined to comment, saying the U.S. attorney’s office requested that no one answer questions.
Some students said they thought the potential punishments for each charge were too stringent.
“That’s really harsh,” said freshman biology major Jasmine Powell. “I feel like a lot of students buy fake IDs, they’re not uncommon.”
Powell added that she thinks there are not many students at the university who produce and sell fake IDs, but that it’s not difficult to find someone to get one.
According to court documents, with the exception of a few traffic violations, these charges are Michaels’ first criminal charges. Murphy declined to specify when Michaels was originally arrested.
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