An Allegheny County man has been sentenced to four to eight years in prison for forging signatures on nomination petitions for a U.S. Congressional candidate before the 2022 primary election, Attorney General Dave Sunday announced.
Kirk Rice, 66, of Cheswick, was previously convicted by a jury of fifteen counts of identity theft, one count of theft by deception, fifteen counts of forgery, two counts of perjury, and other related charges.
Rice was sentenced to prison on Monday, in addition to 93 months of probation. Sunday said he is also required to pay $1,340 in restitution to the Campaign “Steve Irwin for Congress,” and is prohibited from working for any county election department and circulating nominating petitions.
Prosecutors claim Rice was paid $1,340 for collecting 437 signatures for Democratic candidate Steve Irwin’s nomination. Rice submitted 34 pages of signatures and was paid for each one he received.
“This defendant’s actions are an affront to every voter who expects honesty and accountability in our elections,” Attorney General Sunday said. “Over and over again, this defendant defrauded a system based on free and fair elections. This sentence should serve as a reminder that my office will investigate any and all types of election fraud, no matter the person or political party.”
However, Irwin’s campaign learned that Rice allegedly falsified the signatures, including one supposedly by U.S. District Court Judge Cathy Bissoon.
Dozens of alleged signers reported never signing the petition, the AG’s office says.
The investigation showed that Rice admitted to not going door-to-door. Instead, he went into Pittsburgh businesses and got people to sign the petition without checking whether they were Democrats.
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