Duke worker accused of selling fake IDs

A biomedical research technician at Duke University is accused of supplying hundreds of fake IDs to college students with the aid of a printer and laminating machine stolen from the state Division of Motor Vehicles.

Wake ABC law enforcement officers arrested Robert Wayne Bullock, 23, Tuesday at his home in rural Orange County and charged him with selling false IDs. The officers found him in possession of the printer and laminating machine, which had been taken two years ago from the DMV office in Louisburg, said Lew Nuckles, chief of ABC law enforcement in Wake County.

Bullock provided the fake IDs mostly to N.C. State students, Nuckles said. It was one of the largest and most sophisticated fake ID operations Nuckles has seen in this area in quite some time, he said.

Nuckles said his department has been investigating Bullock's fake IDs for months, since bartenders and officers started confiscating fake IDs -- mostly in the Hillsborough Street area near N.C. State -- that were nothing like they'd seen before, he said.

Usually, it's obvious an underage person has altered the date of birth on a fake ID, he said. But there were no signs of tampering on the IDs they were finding, he said.

The IDs were made with the date of birth and holograms found on real driver's licenses issued by the state, he said.

They were so well made that even his own team wasn't sure they were fake, Nuckles said.

But when law enforcement checked the driver's license numbers, they turned out to belong to other drivers, he said.

After months of investigation and talking to dozens of people and informants, the officers identified Bullock as the "top of the food chain" in the business, he said.

Over Thanksgiving, Nuckles' team went undercover and bought some fake IDs from Bullock, Nuckles said. Bullock’s fake IDs were sold for $150 to $170, Nuckles said.

In addition to the DMV printer and laminating machine, officers found at Bullock’s home 1,000 blank card stocks, rolls of color printing ribbon and full rolls of laminating paper with official state holograms, Nuckles said. Bullock also had a special cleaning kit needed to keep the DMV printer clean and operating, he said.

Bullock was released from the Wake County jail Tuesday afternoon on a $5,000 bond.

Nuckles said he expects to bring additional charges against Bullock of manufacturing fake IDs. Law enforcement also confiscated five computers from Bullock, Nuckles said. Investigators won't know how many ID's he sold or to whom until investigators analyze the computers, Nuckles said.

Nuckles said he also expects more arrests in the case.