Political Consultant Forged Nomination Signatures In Philly: AG

PHILADELPHIA — A Philadelphia political consultant has been accused by state authorities of forging signatures on 2019 Democratic primary nomination petitions in Philadelphia.

Attorney General Josh Shapiro said Rasheen Crews was charged with criminal solicitation to commit forgery and theft by failure to make required disposition.

The charges stem from Rasheen Crews' alleged forging of signatures on nomination petitions to get his clients on the ballot for the 2019 Democratic primary races in Philadelphia.

"In advance of the 2023 municipal elections, this arrest is an important reminder that interfering with the integrity of our elections is a serious crime," Shapiro said. "By soliciting and organizing the wide scale forgery of signatures, the defendant undermined the democratic process and Philadelphians’ right to a free and fair election. My office is dedicated to upholding the integrity of the election process across the Commonwealth, to ensure everyone can participate in Pennsylvania’s future."

Authorities said that in 2019, multiple candidates hired Crews to help them obtain the requisite amount of signatures needed for their nomination petitions for the Democratic primary races.

Crews recruited individuals to help with the petition work, bringing them to a hotel room and asking them to write names, addresses, and forged signatures on multiple petitions, the AG's office said.

Crews then had these petitions notarized and filed with the Pennsylvania Department of State on behalf of his clients, according to authorities.

Of the petitions that were reviewed, more than one thousand signatures were determined to be duplicated, authorities said.

Many names and addresses were found repeated on various petition pages, some pages appeared to be photocopied entirely, and some of the listed individuals claimed to have never signed the petitions in question, according to authorities.

Due to the questions around the petition signatures, some candidates chose to withdraw entirely from the election.