INDIANA CO., Pa. (EYT) — District Attorney Bob Manzi announced on Thursday that an Indiana teen has been charged with forging signatures on a nominating petition.

According to District Attorney Manzi, 18-year-old Jonathan Carson Midkiff, of Indiana, forged signatures on a nominating petition for Candidate Brian Doyle for the Spring primary election for the 62nd Legislative District, Representative in the General Assembly.

The charges include:

1) Forgery, graded as a Misdemeanor of the first degree;
2) Tampering with records or identification, a misdemeanor of the first degree;
3) Unsworn falsification to authorities, a misdemeanor of the third degree; and
4) Tampering with public records or information, a misdemeanor of the second degree.

In April of 2022, a complaint was made to the Indiana County District Attorney’s Office that there appeared to be approximately 10 signatures on the nominating petition for Brian Doyle, candidate for state representative, that were forged.

Chief County Detective Bradley Shields initiated the investigation into the complaint. It was determined that two of the purported signers have been living outside of Indiana County since 2021 and one of the purported signers is incapacitated and unable to sign documents. Other purported signers advised Chief Detective Shields that they did not sign this petition.

The nominating petitions are circulated at the beginning of each year by candidates for various public offices. The candidates need to obtain a certain number of signatures to be placed on the ballot for the May primary. It should be noted that these nominating petitions are not votes and there is no evidence in this investigation of any fraudulent votes. Further, there has been no evidence that the candidate, Brian Doyle, had any knowledge of these forgeries.

At this point, the defendant has only been charged and remains innocent until proven guilty under the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.