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WILKES-BARRE — After months of investigation, state police say one-time district judge candidate Jared Martin Kane’s Republican nomination petition contained forged signatures.
Kane, 33, of Wilkes-Barre, was arraigned Friday on one misdemeanor count each of forgery, false swearing, false signatures on a nomination petition and fraudulent filing of a nomination petition.
According to a criminal complaint, state police investigators confirmed “numerous” people whose signatures appeared on the petition had neither signed the document nor authorized another person to sign it for them.
At least one person contacted the Luzerne County District Attorney’s Office in May to report her name and signature had been fraudulently applied to the petition, the complaint says. The woman allegedly said an incorrect version of her name appeared on the document and she had not lived in the area for more than four years.
Kane’s signature on the document, provided before a notary, is a legal acknowledgment he was present when each of the people purported to have signed the document did so, police say.
Al Flora, Kane’s defense attorney, said his client has entered a tentative agreement to plead guilty to the charges and emphasized Kane’s cooperation with investigators.
He said sentencing guidelines make a sentence of probation likely, though Kane could potentially face a maximum of five years in prison and $10,000 in fines.
Kane waived his right to a preliminary hearing and also will waive his formal arraignment, currently scheduled for Feb. 11, when the case moves forward to Luzerne County Court, Flora said.
He said more information likely will emerge as the case proceeds.
The attorney added that Kane’s parents — outgoing District Judge Martin Kane and Wilkes-Barre City Controller Kathy Kane — stand behind their son “100 percent.”
Martin and Kathy Kane both accompanied their son when he turned himself in at his arraignment before District Judge Rick Cronauer. The three Kanes entered through the office’s front door and shuffled out a side door together as Flora spoke with media.
City Wide Towing owner Bob Kadluboski, a driving force in pushing for the investigation, said he was “in a little bit of shock” after the arraignment.
He said he believes state police conducted a thorough investigation, but added he understood the allegedly forged signatures appear on the petition in a woman’s handwriting. Kadluboski wondered aloud if Kane was not covering for another person and said he would approach the district attorney’s office with these concerns.
Speaking with the Times Leader, District Attorney Stefanie Salavantis commended state police for their lengthy and diligent investigation. She said the matter is ongoing, and declined to say whether more charges may be forthcoming.
Forgery allegations surfaced in the days leading up to the May primary, marring Kane’s campaign for the city magisterial post occupied for 30 years by his father.
A pair of Times Leader reporters going door to door in May spoke to two people who said they did not sign the petition, despite their names and addresses appearing on the document. Another woman said the man purported to have used her address on the petition in February had moved to Mexico in 2014.
Reports in other local media sources told similar stories.
Kane appeared poised to succeed his father, but lost the election to Tom Malloy in a landslide decision.
