Allegheny County man convicted of forging signatures on nominating petitions for 2022 congressional candidate

An Allegheny County man has been convicted of forging signatures on nomination petitions for a U.S. congressional candidate before Pennsylvania's 2022 primary election, according to a news release from Attorney General Dave Sunday's office.

Kirk Rice was found guilty Friday of theft by deception, forgery, perjury, and other related charges following a weeklong trial.

Prosecutors said Rice was paid $1,340 to collect signatures for Democratic congressional candidate Steve Irwin and submitted 437 signatures across 34 pages. These petitions were turned over to the campaign and officially filed for Irwin's nomination. Rice was paid per signature, Sunday's office added.

The Office of Attorney General said it 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."

The campaign later became aware that Rice may have submitted fraudulent signatures, including that of U.S. District Court Judge Cathy Bissoon.

Rice later admitted he did not go door-to-door, but walked around Pittsburgh, entering businesses and gathering signatures from individuals without confirming whether they were registered Democrats, a requirement for signing Democratic nomination petitions.

Rice's sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 17.