He wants real jail time for fake-ID peddlers.
State Sen. José Peralta (D-Queens) is proposing a measure to make the punishment for selling a phony ID comparable to the one for actually forging it.
Low-level street hustlers selling the fakes would face higher felony jail terms of five to 15 years in prison, up from only 2 1/2 years now, if his bill passes.
“Fake IDs are really at the heart of a number of criminal enterprises,” he said.
Peralta, who dubbed Roosevelt Avenue the “old Times Square,” said the strip is rife with counterfeit-ID sellers, drugs and gangs.
The thriving trade is carried out by a complex hierarchy of players, including sellers, runners, forgers and a boss.
“This is more lucrative than drugs,” a law-enforcement source said. “Why risk having a kilo of coke and expose yourself to a life in prison?”
Peralta said tougher sentences would help Queens District Attorney Richard Brown’s investigators obtain more information.
“Once you get the seller, the seller will start talking,” Peralta said. “This is going to be a real breakthrough for them.”