Former KSU students fined $3,000 for fake ID operation
Kent State students Antonio Bucca, left, and Drew Patenaude were charged with identity fraud, forgery and telecommunications fraud.
Antonio Bucca and Drew Patenaude, both 21, have had their jail sentences revoked by Portage County Common Pleas Judge Laurrie Pittman.
Both men will still have to pay fines of $3,000 each, plus court fees, according to court documents. In addition to fines, they will both serve two years probation and 24 hours of community service.
Pittman also ordered Bucca to either get a full-time job or to become a full-time student in the next three months.
Bucca and Patenaude were both originally charged with identity fraud, forgery and telecommunications fraud in March 2011. If they would have been convicted on all three counts, they could have faced up to three years in prison.
Instead, they pleaded guilty to three counts of forgery, a first-degree misdemeanor, according to court documents.
The charges came about after the United States Customs and Border Protection intercepted 45 pairs of fake IDs hidden inside an electronic device being shipped from China.
Contact Britni Williams at [email protected].
Editor’s Note: This article has been corrected. Its original reporting of the degree and nature of the charges was incorrect.
Arrested students’ counterfeit ID shipment came from China