Two Charged in Connection with Illegal Production and Distribution of Counterfeit Ohio Driver’s Licenses

U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Ohio
May 18, 2010

Steven M. Dettelbach, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, announced today that a federal grand jury in Cleveland, Ohio, returned an indictment charging Jeffrey A. Evans, age 24, of Powell, Ohio, and John P. Weston, age 24, of Rocky River, Ohio, with one count of possessing and transferring five or more false identification documents, and one count of producing, transferring and possessing document-making implements and authentication features to be used in the production of false identification documents. The charges in the Indictment stem from the defendants’ production and distribution of counterfeit Ohio driver’s licenses containing counterfeit authentication features known as holograms.

If convicted, the defendants’ sentences will be determined by the court after review of factors unique to this case, including the defendants’ prior criminal records, if any, the defendants’ respective roles in the offense and the characteristics of the violation. In all cases the sentence will not exceed the statutory maximum and in most cases it will be less than the maximum.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert W. Kern of the Cleveland U.S. Attorney’s Office, following an investigation by the Cleveland Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Berea Police Department and the Ohio Department of Public Safety.

An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.