[SamReidHughes]

For OPT, the employer (apparently) doesn’t take part in the process of getting the visa. I think the best skeptical take would be that maybe he didn’t tell his employer he had OPT status, so maybe he avoided filling out that part of the form, signed it, and hoped for the best.

[pandaman]

He could not have OPT in 2012 (it requires a year of study), when this form had been faxed. He states as much, mentioning that his life was different "During the first year in the U.S." right before telling about this job.

So the best skeptical take is that he went to work illegally, was given I-9 and did not fill it because there was no box for his status at the time "alien, not authorized to work". Then the employer, who is hiring illegals and is not exactly straight edge either, filled it for him. This does not make much sense, though, since it would not matter for the employer without the section 2 of the form, which lists documents proving the eligibility for work.

He still broke the law but, maybe, not to the degree where he earned a ban from the U.S. This depends on how long he worked illegally.

[SamReidHughes]

Maybe. It's one "academic year." If he was on the F-1 learning English before that, does that count towards the one academic year of study?

[pandaman]

It might if he had been in English classes, accredited to issue OPT. Seeing that OPT is available only for bachelor and master degree level of education and he states that he started with the elementary level of English it does not seem very likely even ignoring the fact that he also writes he only spent 6 months studying before passing TOEFL and applying to a business school in CA.