JUSTIN COOK The Roanoke Times

Eric Davis checks IDs on Friday at Sharkey's restaurant in Blacksburg, a popular downtown hangout for students at Virginia Tech.

JUSTIN COOK The Roanoke Times

In the 2006-07 school year, Blacksburg and Virginia Tech police received an Alcoholic Beverage Control grant of $7,000 to implement law enforcement and awareness programs to prevent underage drinking.

Under21: An interactive series chronicling the drinking culture on Virginia college campuses

Josh Stevens raised his eyebrows as he glanced at the ID.

A girl had just given it to him one night to enter Sharkey's, the bar he manages in downtown Blacksburg.

The name on the card looked too familiar, and after eyeballing the photo and the girl in question several times, Stevens turned her away. He told her he was certain the ID wasn't hers. She asked how he knew.

"This ID belongs to my ex-girlfriend," said Stevens, 28.

In a college town like Blacksburg, where alcohol-related incidents are common, the use of fake IDs is still hard to catch except in unusual coincidences such as the one at Sharkey's. But it can bring retailers harsh penalties, and providers and underage drinkers irreparable consequences.

About 30 percent of a sample of 362 Virginia Tech students said they had a fake ID, according to a Campus Alcohol Abuse Prevention Center study conducted in fall 2003. Most of them used IDs to go into bars.

The way people are caught using a fake ID affects the charges and penalties they could face.

"Typically they charge students with a misdemeanor crime, but they could also be charged with much higher-level crimes," said Steven Clarke, director of the Campus Alcohol Abuse Prevention Center.

For example, if the person is charged with public intoxication or drunken driving in conjunction with the use of a fake ID, that is a major violation, said Bruce Phillips, a lawyer at Virginia Tech's Student Legal Services.

Because Tech has the right to enforce policies off-campus, there is also the possibility of being penalized by the Office of Student Conduct if the incident also violated university policy.

Some students at Virginia Tech think having a false ID is a huge risk, but using another person's is not so bad.

"Borrowing IDs is way more common," said Sian Gooding, a 22-year-old mathematics major at Tech.

But in a college town where house parties take place every night, it is not even necessary to use a false ID, students said.

Jesse Bors-Koefoed, a 19-year-old university studies major, does not think many people have or use fake IDs.

"You can get alcohol other ways," he said.

A fake ID charge or conviction could negatively affect job hunting.

"One of the things about a fake ID charge is that it is considered a crime of moral turpitude," Phillips said. "It is lying, cheating or stealing. It is a fraud."

Students who are looking for jobs that require a security clearance, for instance, can be affected if their record shows a fake ID charge.

"That would have more of an effect than an alcohol conviction," Phillips said.

The case of Aubrey Beach, now a business information technology major at Tech, highlights the severe consequences that manufacturing fake IDs can bring.

He was convicted in December 2007 of producing false identification documents, a felony. During his sophomore year, he spent about eight months in a satellite prison camp in Petersburg.

According to federal court documents, Beach produced 100 fake IDs between summer 2005 and August 2006, when he was a high school senior in Norfolk.

Beach would alter the dates of birth on real Virginia driver's licenses, using a computer, scanner, laminator and various software programs to change the bar code and personal information. He would buy special paper and Virginia holograms on the Internet.

Beach initially charged $50 but later increased the price to $150 per license. He soon became well-known among Norfolk high school students. His licenses were nearly identical to the real thing.

Beach later gave investigators the names of the people who helped him produce and sell the IDs and the names of more than 70 people who bought the counterfeit licenses. The Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles collected the fake IDs without prosecuting any of the buyers, spokeswoman Melanie Stokes said.

Beach declined a request for an interview.

The DMV started issuing redesigned driver's licenses in March. The new licenses have security features such as raised lettering, an image of the state seal only visible under ultraviolet light and fine line designs, which authorities believe will make counterfeiting much more difficult.

"The new IDs will provide a new level of security," said Philip Bogenberger, a Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control spokesman.

ABC recently launched campaigns to train retailers to recognize the age-identifying features on the old and new Virginia licenses.

"They are virtually tamper-proof," Stokes said. "You cannot reproduce or alter this."

Just how much of a difference the new licenses will make in curbing underage drinking is unclear. It will take up to eight years for every Virginian to have a new license. And counterfeiters may also continue producing and underage people buying out-of-state IDs.

In the 2006-07 school year, Blacksburg and Tech police received an ABC grant of $7,000 to implement law enforcement and awareness programs to prevent underage drinking. Phillips said the funding was evident in the number of students who were caught with fake IDs that year.

That year, he assisted 17 students who were charged with possession of fake IDs. The number went down to three in the 2007-08 school year, and then up to four in the 2008-09 school year.

"I don't think there are any students getting caught," he said.

Blacksburg police spokesman Lt. Joe Davis said he did not know of any bars in Blacksburg that use electronic scanners to spot fake IDs. Although ABC provides training for retailers to spot fake IDs, it is the cardholder who is held fully responsible when the ID appears to be real. But if the ID appears to be fake, the retailer may be charged. ABC's Bogenberger said incidents are handled on a case-by-case basis.

Bars have different approaches to dealing with underage customers. Some bars put X's with a permanent marker on the back of the underage person's hands; other places such as River Mill on Draper Road, ask for two IDs to make sure the customer is 21 or over.

At Champs Sports Bar & Cafe, the bouncers are trained to feel the material, look at the photo, match it with the person's facial structure and check the date of birth and expiration date.

Judson Stutts, a bartender at Champs, said that he tells bouncers to ask questions when they suspect inappropriate use of an ID, such as asking for the bearer's middle name.

If they detect a false ID or a person using someone else's real ID, which is a more common scenario, some bars do not report it to the police.

"People think we're going to get mad at them, but I'm not there to ruin people's nights," said Stevens, the manager from Sharkey's. "I just tell them, 'This is a fake. You have to leave.' "

Bartenders and managers know that ABC officers and undercover police officers prowl popular night spots, looking for fake IDs or bartenders who serve underage patrons.

"There's so much at risk that it's one area you can't lack in," Stevens said. "This is what I do. I don't have another job. I don't go to school anymore. This is my livelihood."

Staff writer Jorge Valencia contributed to this report.