Two University of Wisconsin students arrested last month for manufacturing fake IDs waived their right to a preliminary hearing held Friday afternoon. Another man arrested on a related charge also waived his right to a preliminary hearing.

Tuan Nguyen, a 22-year-old UW student, and his brother Bao Nguyen, who has no UW affiliation, were arrested in early March for the manufacture of false identification, obstruction of a police officer and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Richard Zemple, a 19-year-old UW student, was also arrested on the separate charge of being party to a crime.

In the court proceeding last Friday, all three defendants were individually called to the bench with their attorneys, where they then told presiding judge Gerald C. Nichol of their desire to waive their right to a preliminary hearing.

Zemple’s attorney told the judge of a possible consideration for Zemple to enter a first-time offenders program for a lesser charge.

Bao Nguyen’s attorney spoke of a possible pre-trial agreement for the defendant to do community service in return for reducing his felony charges to misdemeanors.

Tuan Nguyen’s attorney said that there were no considerations being spoken of for Tuan.

Judge Nichol entered a not-guilty plea for all three parties. He then granted 20 days for the parties’ attorneys to file motions before the trial.

Acting under their attorneys’ advice, all defendants understood and chose to waive the preliminary hearing.

If convicted of manufacturing fake IDs, each could face up to two years in prison. The charge of obstructing an officer carries a possible sentence of nine months in prison.

Police followed up on an anonymous tip through several contacts, who cooperated with police to arrest the suspects, UW Police Sergeant Johnnie Diamante said.

He said the students have been manufacturing IDs since the beginning of the fall semester.

“They made at least 30-40 false IDs, and that’s a conservative estimate,” Diamante said. “It’s probably significantly higher, but we haven’t compiled all the evidence yet.”

Through a search warrant for Tuan Nguyen’s home on West Wilson Street, police seized multiple computers, digital cameras, a lamination device and multiple false identification cards.

Diamante said no arrests for the manufacture of fake IDs have been made for the last two or three months.