Luzerne County District Attorney’s Office reviewing complaint filed against Wilkes-Barre mayoral candidate Tony George

WILKES-BARRE — Allegations of election law violations resurfaced against city mayoral candidate Tony George less than a week before voters go to the polls on Tuesday.

Luzerne County District Attorney Stefanie Salavantis Thursday said her office is investigating a private criminal complaint.

“We did receive the complaint and our office is currently reviewing it. There is nothing more I can state right now,” Salavantis said.

Wilkes-Barre resident William Fleming provided a copy of his complaint to the Times Leader, alleging signs for George, the Democratic candidate for mayor, did not list who paid for them.

Fleming listed five locations where he said he found the illegal signs. He acknowledged some of them might have been corrected between the time the district attorney received the complaint and when he filed it with District Judge Rick Cronauer, Wilkes-Barre on Oct. 19. He had alerted the district attorney’s office to the alleged violations in a emails sent Oct. 13 and 16.

Still Fleming asked for an investigation. “A violation is a violation,” he said.

George responded that the signs had the disclosures on them when they were put up during the past few months. Of the 800 signs throughout the city just a few were missing the disclosures and George said they had either fallen off or had been removed.

“I put them back on,” George said.

He expressed frustration with the latest allegations. “They just keep trying something everyday,” George said.

Earlier this month the district attorney cleared him of any wrongdoing in the filing of error-filled campaign finance reports after the May 19 primary. George accepted responsibility for the mistakes made when he completed the reports on his own. He hired an accounting firm to review the reports and filed amended versions.

The pending complaint would not disqualify George from the general election. According to the Pennsylvania Election Code the penalty for failing to “clearly and conspicuously state” the person or organization who financed the expenditure of the sign is a misdemeanor, each carrying either a maximum $1,000 fine, a prison sentence of up to two years or both.

His opponent, Republican candidate Frank Sorick said he brought the missing disclosures to the attention of George and his campaign during the primary. The latest allegations reflect badly on George, a city councilman and former police chief who has been campaigning on a law and order platform, Sorick said.

“That’s troublesome,” Sorick said.

Fleming, who copied Sorick on the Oct. 16 email sent to the district attorney, said he did not know why it took so long for Salavantis to respond. Fleming also said he has concerns about George’s inability to pay attention to small details should he get elected mayor.

“You better know what you’re doing,” Fleming said.

After Wilkes-Barre mayoral candidate Tony George was informed a campaign sign along Carey Avenue in Wilkes-Barre lacked the required information disclosing who paid for it, someone from his campaign wrote on the bottom, “Paid for by a friend of Tony George.”

https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_TTL103015Signs.jpg.optimal.jpgAfter Wilkes-Barre mayoral candidate Tony George was informed a campaign sign along Carey Avenue in Wilkes-Barre lacked the required information disclosing who paid for it, someone from his campaign wrote on the bottom, “Paid for by a friend of Tony George.”