The Louisiana Office of Alcohol and Tobacco control still is analyzing evidence after the December arrests of six men accused of masterminding a fake ID ring to aid underage drinkers in alcohol purchases.
Four of the arrested men are University students, and all six face prosecution for felony forgery charges with a maximum five-year prison penalty and hard labor, authorities said.
All six men were bonded out of jail shortly after being arrested by East Baton Rouge and Jefferson parish sheriff’s officers.
A trial date has not been set by district attorneys in either parish.
East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s officers arrested the following University students Dec. 10: Jeffrey David Lee, 18, 4500 Burbank Drive, Apt. 13103; and Jonathan Courtney, 19, 3614 Brandon Lynn Drive.
Brian Pontier, 19, 550 Lee Drive, Apt. 8, also was arrested by East Baton Rouge Parish officers Dec 10.
On Dec. 12 East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s officers arrested the following University students: Bradley C. King, 20, 2066 Burbank Drive, Apt. 8; and Michael Keith Nolan, 19, 410 Jackson Hall.
Jefferson Parish officers arrested Andrew Trujillo, 17, 4721 Academy Drive, Metairie, on Dec. 12.
All the men turned themselves into authorities.
Steve Spalitta, ATC director of Enforcement, said authorities will continue searching for customers who bought fake IDs from the six men. Penalties for buyers will be lenient if they voluntarily turn in their fake IDs, he said.
ATC agents have not determined whether buyers will face criminal mischief charges or if they will simply have to receive alcohol use education. Spalitta did not specify criminal mischief penalties or mandatory education hours.
Spalitta said his office simply is trying to stop future underage drinking-related fatalities.
“We’re not looking to trash the career of college students,” he said. “We know the average kid’s going to toss the ID.”
But Spalitta said simply throwing away fake IDs does not ensure that customers will not be caught.
“The ID is their actual, definite picture,” he said. “Most — 99 percent — use their real name. They just change their address.”
ATC investigators also are searching through records from the six arrested men.
“The bottom line is we’re more than likely to have a positive ID on them [buyers],” Spalitta said.
The ATC started the investigation that led to the arrests after the Oct. 10 death of Corey Domingue, a 19-year-old chemical engineering sophomore.
Investigators said Domingue died of alcohol poisoning.
In an Oct. 14, 2003 Reveille story, Baton Rouge Police Department Cpl. Don Kelly said Domingue reportedly drank a fifth of rum in just a few hours’ time.
According to ATC records, Domingue got his fake ID from one of the six men who were arrested.
Don Moreau, East Baton Rouge district attorney, said the six men who were arrested are not facing charges in Domingue’s death, and he was unsure whether charges in the death will be pursued.
Domingue used the fake ID at the Winn Dixie at the corner of Burbank Drive and Lee Drive to purchase the alcohol that eventually led to his death.
Domingue used a Texas driver’s license although he lived in Baton Rouge and was a Franklin, La. native.
Spalitta said the fake IDs were made from templates for Texas and Iowa drivers licenses.
“They used Photoshop 7
software. It took 10 to 15 hours to make the templates,” he said. “It took 15 minutes to make a single driver’s license according to one of them [the suspects].”
Authorities estimated the six suspects made at least hundreds, if not thousands, of fake IDs and charged from $100 to $200 per ID.
Since there are a number of Texas residents attending the University, Spalitta said many vendors would not initially suspect the IDs. He also said Texas drivers licenses were easier to counterfeit than Louisiana licenses.
Both states’ licenses include holograms, but the Texas IDs have simply the word “Texas” in holographic print. Louisiana licenses include holographic prints of the shape of the state, which are more difficult to reproduce.
Nancy Mathews, executive director of the Campus-Community Coalition for Change, said college culture emphasizes underage drinking.
“I am saddened by these combined breaches of personal integrity because they placed other people in harm’s way – both physically and legally,” she said.
Mathews said she plans for CCCC to educate students more about University alcohol polices and the consequences for violating those polices during the spring semester.
The fake ID crackdown is part of the Responsible Vendor Act, passed by the state legislature in 1997.
Murphy Painter, ATC commissioner, said at a press conference Dec. 15 that almost 275,000 clerks have completed the Responsible Vendor Program since 2000. The purpose of the program is to educate vendors, their employees and customers about responsible selling, serving and consumption of alcohol tobacco.
ATC statistics show that since the act passed, underage alcohol sales have fallen 65 percent at stores and 79 percent at bars.