Getting caught with a fake ID in Colorado can mean anything from a class 2 misdemeanor with up to 120 days in jail to a class 5 felony carrying one to three years in prison. The charge depends on what you did: made the card, carried it knowing it was fake, or used someone else’s identity with it. The alcohol-specific statutes add another layer on top, and the conviction itself often costs you more in the long run than the sentence does.
Which Charge You Face Depends on What You Did
Colorado has no single fake ID statute. Prosecutors pull from several overlapping laws under Title 18, and the one they pick turns on your actual conduct.
Forgery
CRS 18-5-102 covers creating, altering, or passing a fraudulent written instrument with intent to defraud, and the statute specifically includes tools used to produce false identification documents.1Justia Law. Colorado Code 18-5-102 – Forgery Forgery is a class 5 felony, so anyone who actually manufactures a fake ID faces felony exposure from the start. Handing a forged document to a police officer creates a legal presumption that you intended to defraud the officer.
Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument
You don’t have to make the card to catch a felony. CRS 18-5-105 makes it a class 6 felony to knowingly possess a forged instrument with intent to use it to defraud.2Justia Law. Colorado Code 18-5-105 – Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument This is the statute that catches a typical buyer. Someone else printed the card; you knew it was fake and planned to use it. That’s enough.
Criminal Impersonation
CRS 18-5-113 covers assuming a false identity, and subsection (3) treats the use of false personal identifying information as assuming a false identity.3Justia Law. Colorado Code 18-5-113 – Criminal Impersonation The severity slides with what you did under the false name:
- Class 2 misdemeanor if you used the fake identity to gain a benefit or defraud someone, and your act did not directly expose the impersonated person to legal liability.
- Class 1 misdemeanor if the act could subject the real person to legal proceedings or penalties.
- Class 6 felony if the act actually subjected the impersonated person to legal liability or penalties.
For a student flashing a fake at a bar door, prosecutors often reach for the class 2 misdemeanor version. If the ID carries a real person’s name and your use of it exposed them to consequences, the charge climbs to a felony.
Jail Time and Fines
Colorado overhauled misdemeanor sentencing effective March 1, 2022. The ranges below apply to any offense committed after that date.
A class 2 misdemeanor carries up to 120 days in jail and a fine of up to $750. A class 1 misdemeanor carries up to 364 days in jail and a fine of up to $1,000.4Justia Law. Colorado Code 18-1.3-501 – Misdemeanor Penalties
On the felony side, forgery (class 5) carries one to three years in prison, a fine between $1,000 and $100,000, and a mandatory two-year parole period after release. A class 6 felony covers criminal possession of a forged instrument and the aggravated version of criminal impersonation. The prison range is lower, but it is still a felony conviction. If the court classifies the offense as an “extraordinary risk” crime, the maximum prison term increases by six months to one year depending on the felony class.5Justia Law. Colorado Code 18-1.3-401 – Felony Sentencing
If You Used the Fake to Buy Alcohol
Most people searching this question are thinking about underage drinking, and two more statutes apply in that scenario.
CRS 44-3-901(1)(c) makes it unlawful for anyone under 21 to obtain or attempt to obtain alcohol by misrepresenting their age. The same statute authorizes a bartender or clerk to confiscate an ID they suspect is fraudulent and turn it over to law enforcement within 72 hours.6Justia Law. Colorado Code 44-3-901 – Unlawful Acts Subsection (1)(l) makes it illegal for anyone 21 or older to knowingly let an underage person use their ID to buy alcohol, so lending your own real license to a younger sibling is its own offense.
CRS 18-13-122 covers the underage possession or consumption itself as an unclassified petty offense. A first offense carries a maximum $100 fine. A second adds community service and a substance abuse education program. A third or later offense raises the fine to $250 and requires a treatment assessment.7Justia Law. Colorado Code 18-13-122 – Illegal Possession or Consumption of Ethyl Alcohol by an Underage Person The alcohol itself is treated lightly. The fake ID used to get it triggers the heavier forgery and impersonation charges above, and someone caught at a bar often ends up charged under several statutes at once.
When Things Get Worse
Identity Theft
If the fake ID uses a real person’s identifying information, the case can escalate to identity theft under CRS 18-5-902. Using someone else’s personal information to obtain money, credit, property, or services is a class 4 felony, carrying two to six years in prison and fines between $2,000 and $500,000.8Justia Law. Colorado Code 18-5-902 – Identity Theft Simply possessing another person’s identifying information with intent to use it for gain is a class 2 misdemeanor on its own, but that jumps to a class 5 felony if you hold information for three or more people.
Federal Aggravated Identity Theft
Federal prosecutors can get involved if the fake ID is used during another federal felony. Under 18 U.S.C. § 1028A, knowingly using someone else’s identification during a federal crime adds a mandatory two-year prison sentence on top of whatever the underlying felony carries. That two-year term cannot run concurrently with the other sentence, and the court cannot shorten the underlying sentence to offset it.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 US Code 1028A – Aggravated Identity Theft
Firearms Purchases
Using a fake ID to buy a firearm pulls the case into federal court. Under 18 U.S.C. § 922(a)(6), providing false information to acquire a firearm is a federal offense, and the sentences are severe. A state-level fake ID case can turn into a federal felony fast when a gun purchase is involved.
Repeat Offenses
Colorado has no specific repeat-offender enhancement for fake ID charges, but judges consider criminal history at sentencing. A second or third arrest rarely draws the minimum end of the range, and prosecutors become less willing to offer a misdemeanor plea in place of a felony. For the alcohol-specific statutes, CRS 18-13-122 explicitly steps up penalties with each conviction through added community service, mandatory substance abuse assessment, and higher fines.7Justia Law. Colorado Code 18-13-122 – Illegal Possession or Consumption of Ethyl Alcohol by an Underage Person
What a Conviction Costs You Later
For most young people, the collateral damage outlasts the sentence. Even a class 2 misdemeanor for criminal impersonation is a fraud-related offense, and employers in finance, healthcare, education, and government look hard at fraud on a background check. Professional licensing boards in Colorado can deny or revoke a license based on a fraud conviction.
Record sealing is available but slow. For a class 2 misdemeanor, you must wait at least two years after the final disposition before petitioning. For class 1 misdemeanors and class 4, 5, or 6 felonies, the wait is at least three years. A felony identity theft conviction is not eligible for standard sealing at all. A misdemeanor identity theft conviction can be sealed only if the district attorney consents or the court finds by clear and convincing evidence that sealing is justified and you no longer pose a threat to public safety.10Colorado Judicial Branch. Sealing Criminal Records – April 2025
The out-of-pocket cost adds up too. Legal fees for a private attorney on a misdemeanor fraud charge typically run from $1,000 to $10,000 depending on complexity and whether the case goes to trial. Court costs, probation supervision fees, program costs for any court-ordered substance abuse education, and the $25 penalty surcharge Colorado adds to underage alcohol convictions all come on top of any fine.7Justia Law. Colorado Code 18-13-122 – Illegal Possession or Consumption of Ethyl Alcohol by an Underage Person
Will You Lose Your Driver’s License?
Probably not from a first offense, despite what you may have read. CRS 42-2-125 lists the specific offenses that trigger mandatory license revocation, and fake ID possession is not on that list.11Justia Law. Colorado Code 42-2-125 – Mandatory Revocation of License and Permit
The one place the two intersect is narrow. Under CRS 42-2-125(1)(m)(II), the Department of Revenue can revoke a minor’s license if the minor has been convicted of underage alcohol possession under CRS 18-13-122(3) or of obtaining alcohol by misrepresenting age under CRS 44-3-901(1)(c) or (1)(d), has failed to complete a court-ordered alcohol program, and has a previous conviction for the same type of offense. All three conditions have to be met. A first-time fake ID offense with no prior alcohol convictions and compliance with court orders does not trigger automatic revocation. A judge can still impose driving-related conditions as part of sentencing or probation, but the automatic license loss many people fear is not built into the statute.
What the Prosecution Has to Prove
Intent is the hinge. Forgery under CRS 18-5-102 requires proof you acted “with intent to defraud.” Criminal possession of a forged instrument under CRS 18-5-105 requires proof both that you knew the document was forged and that you intended to use it to defraud. Criminal impersonation requires proof you knowingly assumed the false identity.
That intent requirement is where defenses live. If someone else slipped the ID into your wallet, intent fails. If you kept the card as a novelty with no plan to use it, that’s a defense in principle, though a hard one to sell if you were caught at a bar door with the card in hand. Context tends to supply the intent evidence, and the circumstances of the arrest usually decide the question.
Prosecutors do have some flexibility in which statute to charge. A defense attorney can sometimes negotiate a class 6 felony criminal-possession charge down to a class 2 misdemeanor criminal-impersonation charge, which changes everything about the long-term consequences. The gap between a felony and a misdemeanor on your record is the main reason getting a lawyer on a fake ID case is usually worth the money.