My question involves criminal law for the state of: Iowa
Son was at a bonfire at a private residence where unknown to him he was the only 21-year-old. The only person he knew was the host who is 18. My son absolutely DID NOT buy any alcohol for the minors at the party - he doesn't know where it came from. The police stopped 2 people who had left the party earlier and they stated they had been drinking at the bonfire so the bonfire was raided. A parent in the house called the 18-year-old host to ask why the police were driving down the road to the bonfire. At that moment everyone panicked and they put the alcohol in my son's car, mistakenly thinking it would somehow be less stupid than getting caught with it??!! My son did not receive a ticket or citation or Miranda rights or get arrested on-site but was told he'd have a $700 fine and was asked if his mailing address was correct. Apparently he was told he could have been fined $700 for each of the 11 underage persons there. The parents/homeowners did not get cited for anything.
When this citation/ticket/whatever arrives, does he have to go to court or does he just pay the fine? Since he didn't supply the alcohol (yes, I know - everybody says they're innocent), should he hire a lawyer? Does he have any hope to make this go away? Can he lose his job over this incident? What kind of offense is this (simple misdemeanor, serious misdemeanor, class whatever felony?) I assume if it was a felony he would have been tossed in jail.
There's no doubt he was incredibly incredibly beyond stupid, but can anything be done?
Thank you for any information you can provide!

