What Happens If You Get Caught With a Fake ID in Hawaii?

Getting caught with a fake ID in Hawaii can mean anything from a petty misdemeanor with a mandatory driver’s license suspension to a class C felony carrying up to five years in prison. The charge depends on what you did with the ID: using one under 21 to buy alcohol, lying to get a real state-issued ID, or making or passing out counterfeit documents are three different offenses under three different statutes, with very different consequences.

Which Charge You Face

Hawaii has no single fake ID law. Three statutes do most of the work. HRS 281-101.5 covers minors using fake, borrowed, or fictitious IDs to buy alcohol or get a job serving it.¹ HRS 710-1016.3 and 710-1016.4 cover obtaining a real government ID through fraud. HRS 710-1017.5 covers manufacturing, selling, transporting, or importing counterfeit identification documents.²

Under HRS 710-1017.5, a “deceptive identification document” is any document not issued by a government agency that either claims to be government-issued or could fool a reasonable person into thinking it is. That reaches fake driver’s licenses, state ID cards, birth certificates, passports, and social security cards. The reasonable-person standard means even a mediocre fake can qualify.

If You Are Under 21 and Used a Fake to Buy Alcohol

This is the scenario most people land in. For an offender between 18 and 20, HRS 281-101.5 makes the offense a petty misdemeanor: up to 30 days in jail and a fine of up to $1,000.¹³⁴ Anyone under 18 goes through family court instead.

The jail time and fine are usually the smallest part of the punishment. Every conviction under this statute carries mandatory add-ons:

A driver’s license suspension of at least 180 days for licensed drivers, provisional license holders, and instruction permit holders. The court can carve out driving to school, school activities, and work. Minors without any license yet lose eligibility for 180 days or until they turn 17, whichever the court sets.
75 hours of community service, required for every offender regardless of age.
An alcohol education and counseling program of 8 to 12 hours, paid for by the offender or a parent or guardian.

These apply to every conviction, first offense included.¹ On an island where public transit is thin, a six-month license suspension often does more damage to daily life than the fine or the short jail exposure.

If You Lied to Get a Real State ID

Submitting falsified documents or lying on an application to obtain a government-issued ID is a separate crime from carrying a counterfeit. Hawaii splits it by intent.

Second-degree, under HRS 710-1016.4, applies when the person acts with intent to mislead a public servant. It is a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $2,000.⁵³⁴

First-degree, under HRS 710-1016.3, applies when the person intended both to mislead a public servant and to facilitate a felony. That is a class C felony: up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.⁶⁷⁴ Obtaining a fraudulent state ID in order to commit identity theft is the standard example.

If You Made Them, Sold Them, or Handed Them to Friends

Hawaii saves its toughest penalties for the supply side. Under HRS 710-1017.5, intentionally or knowingly manufacturing, selling, furnishing, transporting, or importing a deceptive identification document into Hawaii is a class C felony, with the same five-year prison exposure and $10,000 fine.²⁷⁴

The statute also allows forfeiture of any property used in, or intended for use in, the offense. Computers, printers, laminators, blank card stock, and any proceeds from sales can all be seized under Hawaii’s forfeiture laws.²

You do not have to run the printer to fall under this statute. Offering to furnish fakes to someone else, transporting them, or importing them into Hawaii all trigger the same felony. The classic trap: a student orders a batch of IDs online and passes them out to a group of friends. That is distribution, and it is a felony, regardless of whether any money changed hands.

What a Conviction Follows You With

The sentence is only the first layer. A fake ID conviction leaves marks the statute itself does not spell out.

A Record That Usually Stays

Hawaii’s expungement rules are narrow. The state allows expungement only for a short list of convictions, including underage DUI, first-time drug offenses, first-time property offenses, and limited circumstances under HRS 831-3.2.⁸ Fake ID offenses are not on that list. Expect the conviction to stay on your record and show up on background checks for employment, housing, and professional licensing.

Immigration Risk for Non-Citizens

If you are not a U.S. citizen, the immigration fallout can dwarf the criminal penalty. Fraud-related offenses are generally treated as crimes involving moral turpitude under federal immigration law, which can trigger deportation, denial of naturalization, and inadmissibility. Talk to an immigration attorney before accepting any plea; a resolution that looks minor in criminal court can end your ability to stay in the country.

Federal Exposure

A Hawaii charge does not block federal prosecution for the same conduct. Federal law under 18 U.S.C. § 1028 carries up to 15 years for producing a fake ID and up to five years for possessing one with intent to defraud. Federal attention is more likely when IDs cross state lines, come from a large-scale operation, or connect to another federal offense. Most one-off underage drinking cases stay in state court; ordering fakes from an out-of-state or overseas supplier creates the kind of interstate nexus that can pull federal prosecutors in.

Defenses Worth Raising

Every fake ID statute in Hawaii has an intent element the prosecution has to prove, and that is where most defenses start.

Lack of knowledge or intent. HRS 710-1017.5 requires that the person acted “intentionally or knowingly.”² HRS 710-1016.4 requires “intent to mislead a public servant.”⁵ If you genuinely did not know a document was fake, that undercuts a required element. This argument is harder when the ID carries your photo and someone else’s name, but it can fit cases where someone used an older sibling’s real ID without thinking it through.

Unlawful search. The Fourth Amendment limits how police can find the ID in the first place.⁹ If officers searched your bag without consent or probable cause, a motion to suppress the ID can gut the case. You can only challenge a search of your own property, not someone else’s.

Challenging the document. For HRS 710-1017.5, the prosecution has to prove the item meets the “deceptive identification document” definition — something a reasonable person might believe was government-issued. A clearly satirical or novelty item that no reasonable person would mistake for a real ID may not qualify. Courts look at how the document was used, not just how it was labeled, so a “novelty” disclaimer on the back of a convincing fake handed to a bouncer will not save you.

1
Justia. Hawaii Code 281-101.5 – Prohibitions Involving Minors; Penalty
2
Justia. Hawaii Code 710-1017.5 – Sale or Manufacture of Deceptive Identification Document; Penalties
3
Justia. Hawaii Code 706-663 – Sentence of Imprisonment for Misdemeanor and Petty Misdemeanor
4
Justia. Hawaii Code 706-640 – Authorized Fines
5
Justia. Hawaii Code 710-1016.4 – Obtaining a Government-Issued Identification Document Under False Pretenses in the Second Degree
6
Justia. Hawaii Code 710-1016.3 – Obtaining a Government-Issued Identification Document Under False Pretenses in the First Degree
7
Justia. Hawaii Code 706-660 – Sentence of Imprisonment for Indeterminate Terms
8
Hawaii Department of the Attorney General. Expungement Frequently Asked Questions
9
Constitution Annotated. Amdt4.7.3 Standing to Suppress Illegal Evidence