Five of seven Ohio University students involved in a fake ID scandal have pleaded no contest in court to end their criminal proceedings.
The seven OU students were charged after an investigation prompted by federal customs agents.
Last January, U.S. Customs and Boarder Protection intercepted a package addressed to a 20-year-old student at the Port of Cincinnati that contained fake IDs.
OU Police Department officers obtained a search warrant after being informed of the package from the customs agents and searched the Sargent Hall room of the student and the student's roommate, Sean McCafferty, 19.
The five students to whom the student distributed the fake ids were Steven Caruso, Jennifer Craig, Mark Ellis, Jacqueline Kapur and Kelsey Marasch. Each was charged with possessing a fictitious driver’s license.
The package was shipped from Hong Kong and contained 20 high-grade counterfeit driver’s licenses, one of which contained the actual driver’s license number of a Pennsylvania woman, according to the warrant.
In a deal with the county, Caruso, Craig, Ellis, Kapur and Marasch pleaded no contest in Athens County Municipal Court and received a $100 fine and a 30-day jail sentence, which was suspended.
They were all placed on one-year probation. If they violate their probation, they will be required to serve their jail sentence.
The 20-year-old student was charged with possession of a fictitious driver’s license as well as six counts of forgery for distributing them to the other students involved.
McCafferty was charged with possession of a fictitious driver’s license.
The student and McCafferty pleaded not guilty, and their cases are pending.
rs181308@ohiou.edu
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Update: The name of a former Ohio University student was removed from this article after charges stemming from the investigation were stricken from the student's record.
