Garden Grove : Photographer Arrested in Fake ID Investigation

The owner of a Garden Grove photographic studio was arrested Friday and charged with manufacturing and selling to juveniles bogus identification cards showing they had just turned 21 years of age, police said.

Jesse Martin, who operates Jesse’s Photo at 12526 Valley View Blvd., was booked on three misdemeanor counts of manufacturing and selling false identification cards and was being held in the Orange County Jail in lieu of $2,500 bail, according to Police Sgt. Bruce Beauchamp.

Evidence seized when Martin was arrested at his studio at about 12:30 p.m. indicated he sold at least 103 cards during the month of August for $10 each, Beauchamp said. Detectives believe that Martin, 29, began making and selling the bogus cards since “just after the first of this year,” Beauchamp said.

The cards resemble driver’s licenses, although the words are not printed on the cards, police said. “The cards make it appear the person just turned 21,” Beauchamp said.

Undercover police officers posing as juveniles purchased cards from Martin before the arrest, Beauchamp said. Police were tipped off to the alleged scam by a Newport Beach woman whose son purchased one of the bogus cards.

If convicted, Martin could face up to six months in jail.