HARRISBURG — Attorney General Dave Sunday announced that an Allegheny County jury has convicted a man for forging signatures on nomination petitions for a U.S. Congressional candidate prior to the 2022 primary election.
Following a weeklong trial, Kirk Rice was found guilty Friday morning of theft by deception, forgery, perjury, and other related charges.
Sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 17.
According to testimony, Rice was paid $1,340 for collecting 437 signatures for Democratic candidate Steve Irwin. It was determined the signatures — including one allegedly by a federal judge — were falsified by Rice.
The Office of Attorney General interviewed dozens of alleged signers, and none of them said they signed the petition.
“This defendant deliberately undermined the integrity of Pennsylvania’s election process by falsifying signatures for financial gain,” Attorney General Sunday said. “This type of conduct is taken very seriously as it threatens the foundation of our democracy. I applaud the agents and prosecutors whose work exposed the depths to this fraud and ultimately brought the offender to justice.”
According to testimony, Rice submitted 34 pages of signatures, with a total of 437 signatures. These petitions were turned over to the campaign and officially filed for Irwin’s nomination. Rice was paid per signature.
The campaign later became aware that Rice may have submitted fraudulent signatures – including the forged signature of U.S. District Court Judge Cathy Bissoon.
During the investigation, Rice admitted he did not go door-to-door but instead walked around Pittsburgh, entering businesses and gathering signatures from individuals without verifying whether they were registered Democrats, a specific requirement of the petition process.
This case was prosecuted by Senior Deputy Attorney General Alexander Cashman.
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