Albany County District Attorney Lee C. Kindlon announced today that a 57-year-old Albany man has admitted to using forged ID cards for two victims in an attempt to cash checks at banks in Bethlehem.

Michael Lang pleaded guilty to two counts of Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument in the Second Degree and one count of Identity Theft in the First Degree in front of the Honorable Andra Ackerman Friday morning.

The charges stem from two incidents earlier this summer. On June 23, Lang arrived at the Pioneer Bank on Delaware Avenue in Bethlehem with a forged driver’s license that featured his picture but had the information of a victim from Florida. Lang presented the forged identification card to assume the identity of the victim in order to deposit and cash a U.S. Treasury check payable to the victim. Lang’s conduct resulted in the loss of $2,500 by Pioneer Bank.

Then on July 10, Lang visited the Sunmark Bank on Delaware Avenue in Bethlehem and attempted to open a bank account with a forged driver’s license with information from a victim in Texas. He attempted to deposit and cash a U.S. Treasury check in the amount of $3,831 but bank employees became suspicious and delayed Lang until Bethlehem Police arrived and arrested him.

Police are unaware of how Lang obtained those checks.

Lang, who was ordered to pay back the $2,500 in restitution to Pioneer Bank, will face a two-and-a-half to five-year sentence when he is due back in court on Jan. 8.

Matthew Peluso, Assistant District Attorney and Bureau Chief of the Financial Crimes Unit, is prosecuting the case.