North Vernon man sentenced for illegal ID application
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COLUMBUS, Ind. — A North Vernon man who tried to apply for an identification card with fraudulent information was sentenced Wednesday to one year in Bartholomew County Jail.
However, Roberto Herrera-Garcia, 20, will complete his sentence Thursday because Bartholomew Circuit Court Judge Stephen Heimann gave him credit toward the sentence from the time Garcia had served in jail while his case was pending.
Garcia, who used the alias Sergio Sanchez and a false age of 30, had applied for an Indiana identification card at the Bureau of Motor Vehicles in early 2008.
He presented a permanent resident card and a Social Security card as his forms of identification to get the state ID card.
Police determined both lacked markings or characteristics found in genuine pieces of identification.
Garcia was charged with application fraud, a Class D felony, and possession of a false government-issued identification, a Class A misdemeanor.
He failed to appear in court and was arrested in May this year.
Garcia pleaded guilty in September to the application fraud charge in exchange for prosecutors dropping the other charge.
Heimann determined that Garcia had a limited criminal history, warranting a mitigated sentence.
Garcia had served 179 days in jail while the case was pending. The judge gave him credit for those days toward the year-long sentence in jail.
With good time credit, Garcia actually would have served half a year, which the 179 days plus the time he spent in jail Wednesday and today will cover.
Although Garcia’s sentence will end today, Jennings County authorities have placed a hold on him for charges in their county.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement also has a hold placed on Garcia.
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