by Abigail Ramirez
Daily Lobo
Although she won't turn 21 years old until May, she still walks into bars and clubs without a problem.
A UNM student got her fake ID card by taking her sister's Social Security card to the Motor Vehicle Division and getting a driver's license with her picture and her sister's information on it.
"I tried altering my own ID and buying a fake ID, but those ideas fell through," said the student, who was interviewed on the condition that her name not be used.
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She decided to get her fake ID because she wanted to go to bars during a trip with a friend in July, she said.
A fake ID is any form of identification that intentionally has false information, said Lt. Matt McWethy, an Albuquerque Police Department officer who used to work catching people using fake IDs. He now works on cases involving identity theft and check fraud.
Fake IDs can be acquired in a variety of ways, McWethy said. They can be produced on the Internet, be borrowed or bought from an older person, or the person under 21 can alter the birth date printed on the card, he said.
Ken Ortiz, director of the New Mexico Motor Vehicle Division, said people using other people's Social Security cards to get fake IDs is not a common problem.
"But we're taking steps to wipe that possibility out completely," he said.
The division is working to implement a facial recognition system in 2007 that will catch people trying to cheat the system, he said.
The majority of underage people caught with a fake ID are 20 years old, said Johnny Chacon, assistant manager of the OPM Nightclub at 211 Gold Ave. S.W.
He said a lot of underage people's friends are already 21 and going to bars and clubs. People under 21 don't want to get left behind, so they figure out ways to get in illegally, he said.
In the past two months, OPM has confiscated about 20 fake IDs, which is average, Chacon said.
The student who uses a fake ID said it's better having a fake ID than a real one, because she doesn't get into trouble at parties.
"It just makes me see the uselessness of having a drinking age, because I'm safer now than I was before I had it," she said. "Now I can legally go to bars where it's safer to drink rather than when I go to parties."
She plans to cut up the fake ID when she turns 21, she said.
Materials and special training are provided for doormen in order to know what to look for in a fake ID, Chacon said.
"We look for alterations on the ID itself," he said. "As far as New Mexico licensing, everything is perfect. We look for the imperfections."
If an underage person is caught with a fake ID, the doorman asks for another proof of ID, he said. If one cannot be shown to the doormen, the ID is confiscated and given to the Albuquerque Police Department's Special Investigations Division, he said. Producing and using a fake ID or allowing underage people into the bar and serving them could result in a fourth-degree felony, McWethy said.
The offense will be on the violator's record and he or she may be subject to jail time or fines, he said.
"If you get caught, it's pretty serious," he said. "It's not just a slap on the wrist."
An underage person found in the club has to leave, Chacon said. Depending on the circumstances, the club might push for legal action to be taken, he said.
"We don't want them to attempt to get into our bar at a later time or the other bars Downtown," he said. "We don't want to get shut down."
The first thing the doormen are trained to do is look at the birth date on the ID, Chacon said.
Height and weight are usually overlooked, because they are not accurate on IDs, he said.
Women tend to lie about their weight and men usually lie about their height on IDs, he said.
Chacon said sometimes a patron will come into the bar and hand his or her ID to somebody who is underage, he said.
Doormen are good at remembering who can get into the bar and who can't, he said.
Bar checks are used most of the time to catch fake IDs, McWethy said. Police officers work undercover at the bars and watch for suspicious people that might be carrying a fake ID, he said.
"It's been my experience that underage people will try to get into pretty much any place that serves alcohol or try to purchase alcohol," he said. "Of course, a lot of popular places are in the Downtown area."
Chacon said the only safe way to get into the club is to turn 21.
"They just have to wait and be patient," he said.
