Gainesville Police filed charges against a current Fall Student Government candidate in 2013 for possession of a fake ID, but the candidate, Octavious Buiey, denies the charges ever existed.
Shortly after midnight on Nov. 2, 2013, police pulled over Buiey, 18 at the time, for reportedly speeding in the 4500 block of Northwest 13th Street. When Buiey showed the officer his license, the officer saw the back of a second, upside-down license in the wallet, according to a police report.
The license later proved to be counterfeit, with a date of birth of July 31, 1991, according to the report. Buiey was born in 1995.
Buiey told police he got the ID from a friend to get into 101 Cantina for his birthday. Buiey admitted the license was counterfeit but denied using it to buy alcohol, according to the report.
Buiey, an Impact candidate for District C, said he didn’t know the charges existed.
"I have no idea as to what is going on," he said Wednesday. "I would like to investigate this."
However, Buiey would have had to know of the charges, said Gainesville Police Detective Matt Goeckel, a GPD spokesman.
He said GPD sent the case to the state attorney’s office. Buiey received deferred prosecution for the charge, a ruling where the charges are dropped if a defendant meets terms agreed upon by both the defendant and the state attorney’s office.
"He signed the paperwork agreeing to the deferred prosecution," Goeckel said Thursday.
Buiey signed an agreement on Dec. 6, 2013, promising to pay $100 for the cost of prosecution and either donate $100 to the Black on Black Crime Task Force or perform 10 hours of community service, according to the deferred prosecution agreement.
Darry Lloyd, a spokesman for the state attorney, also said Buiey would have to know of the charges because he completed the deferred prosecution agreement.
"No, they completed it," he said Thursday. "That’s why it’s closed."
Buiey, now 20, had declined to comment further until speaking with a lawyer, and has yet to return requests for comment.
Chris Boyett, Impact’s president, said Buiey was cleared by the supervisor of elections, Sam Book, to run for Fall elections.
"If they don’t believe it’s a problem, then I don’t believe it’s a problem," Boyett said.
As of press time, Buiey is still a candidate for Impact.
Additions or replacements to the slate cannot be made, Book wrote in an email.
Contact Caitlin Ostroff at costroff@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter @Ceostroff
