Yes. Several California statutes cover fake IDs, and which one applies depends on what the document is, what you did with it, your age, and what you intended. Knowingly possessing a realistic fake government ID is a misdemeanor by itself, while possessing or showing a forged or altered license or ID card with intent to commit forgery can be charged as a felony.

Just having one can be a crime

Penal Code section 529.5(c) makes it a misdemeanor to possess a document that is not a counterfeit but purports to be a government-issued ID card or driver’s license and “could reasonably deceive an ordinary person” into believing a government agency issued it, if you know it is not a government-issued document. You do not have to have shown it to anyone. The fine is $1,000 to $2,500 and must be imposed except in unusual cases where the interests of justice would be served. The court may let you work off the fine with community service; if community service is not available, the fine is up to $1,000, based on ability to pay.

Making, selling, offering to sell, or transferring such a document, knowing it is not government-issued, is a separate misdemeanor under section 529.5(a). The maximum is one year in county jail, a $1,000 fine, or both. A later conviction under subdivision (a) raises the maximum fine to $5,000.

Under 21 and using an ID to buy alcohol

Business and Professions Code section 25661 applies to a person under 21 who presents or offers evidence of age and identity that is false, fraudulent, or not actually their own to a licensed alcohol seller or its agent or employee, in order to buy or obtain alcohol. The same section separately makes it a misdemeanor for a person under 21 simply to possess false or fraudulent evidence of age and identity, whatever the purpose. The penalty is a fine of at least $250 (no part of it can be suspended), 24 to 32 hours of community service, or a combination. A second or later violation carries a fine of up to $500, 36 to 48 hours of community service, or a combination, and the section does not prevent prosecution under other laws.

Before 2020, these convictions could also cost someone 13 to 20 years old their driver’s license for a year. Senate Bill 485 removed those suspension provisions from sections 529.5 and 25661, and from the Vehicle Code section they relied on, effective January 1, 2020 (bill comparison with prior law).

Forgery intent: Penal Code sections 470a and 470b

Penal Code section 470b covers displaying, causing or permitting to be displayed, or possessing a government-issued driver’s license or ID card that has been altered, falsified, forged, duplicated, reproduced, or counterfeited, “with the intent that the driver’s license or identification card be used to facilitate the commission of any forgery.” Under CALCRIM No. 1921, the jury instruction for this charge, the prosecution must prove that you knew the document had been altered or faked in one of those ways and that you intended it to be used to commit forgery, meaning to deceive another person in order to cause a loss of, or damage to, a legal, financial, or property right. No one has to actually be defrauded. Section 470a covers making such a document with the same intent. Either can be punished with up to a year in county jail or with a felony term.

That forgery intent is what separates these charges from the misdemeanors above, and whether the prosecution can prove it is a central question in a 470b case.

Driver’s license and ID card misuse under the Vehicle Code

Vehicle Code section 14610 is a separate driver’s license statute. It covers displaying or possessing a canceled, revoked, suspended, fictitious, fraudulently altered, or fraudulently obtained license; lending your license to someone; presenting a license not issued to you as your own; reproducing a license so it could be mistaken for a valid one; and altering a license. A violation is a misdemeanor (Vehicle Code section 40000.11), and because section 14610 states no penalty of its own, the Vehicle Code’s general misdemeanor penalty applies: up to six months in county jail and a fine capped at $1,000, and the court can impose either or both (Vehicle Code section 42002). Section 13004 sets out parallel rules for DMV identification cards. CALCRIM No. 1921 lists possession of an altered driver’s license under section 14610 as a lesser included offense of section 470b.

Not the same as identity theft or signature forgery

A fake ID case is different from identity theft, which is about using someone else’s real personal information or accounts, and from ordinary forgery of a signature or document. A fabricated or altered ID document has its own statutes, described above, and does not require that anyone’s real personal information was misused.

What changes the answer

  • What the document is: a realistic fake government-style ID (529.5), a forged or altered license or ID card (470a and 470b, or the Vehicle Code misuse rules), or someone else’s real ID.
  • Your age and purpose: presenting false or borrowed ID to buy alcohol while under 21 falls under Business and Professions Code 25661.
  • Your intent: forgery intent separates the 470b charge from the misdemeanors.

Talk to a lawyer before you say anything about the document

Do not destroy, alter, or hide the ID itself; how you handle physical evidence can create separate problems. The Law Offices of David S. Chesley’s theft and fraud defense lawyers can look at the document and the facts with you at (800) 755-5174.