It usually starts at a bar downtown or during a police encounter at a party. The ID gets confiscated, and you either receive a summons on the spot or a charge follows later. Depending on the facts, the charge may be written under the alcohol laws, the false identification statutes, or both, and each version is a criminal charge, not a civil fine.
You will be given a court date at the Montgomery County General District Court in Christiansburg. You are required to appear, and how you use the time between the charge and that court date matters a great deal. Judges and prosecutors respond well to defendants who show up having already completed alcohol education or community service, and a lawyer who practices in that courtroom will know what preparation makes a difference.
Do not talk your way into a worse case. Students often try to explain things to the officer or send an apologetic email to the university, and those statements become evidence. Politely decline to discuss the facts and get legal advice first. Remember too that Virginia Tech may open its own student conduct case over the same incident, which runs separately from the court process.
The realistic outcomes range from dismissal to a misdemeanor conviction, and the difference usually depends on your record, the facts, and the quality of your preparation. Joel has helped hundreds of students in the New River Valley through this exact situation. Call him at 540-961-5297, and learn more about defending fake ID charges in Blacksburg.