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Oct. 23, 2013 -- Westchester County District Attorney Janet DiFiore announced that Anthony D’Aria (DOB 05/15/67) of 57 Mountain Road, Mount Pleasant, New York, was charged today by Felony Complaint with:

• five counts of Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument in the Second Degree, class “D” Felonies.

The defendant is currently running in the November 2013 election for Town Supervisor on the “We the People” party independent line.

On July 18, 2013, the defendant attested to the validity of all the signatures contained on an Opportunity to Ballot Petition dated July 18, 2013, while knowing that the petition contained five forged signatures.

Those signatures were filed with the Westchester County Board of Elections.

The signatures collected on the Opportunity to Ballot Petition were for Frank Morganthaler, a write-in candidate, in the Sept. 10, 2013 Republican Party primary for County Committee Member District Leader of Election District 28.
       
The forgeries were the signatures of priests from the Legionaries of Christ, a congregation of Roman Catholic priests, located at 582 Columbus Avenue in Thornwood, New York.

Thornwood is a hamlet in the Town of Mount Pleasant.

The defendant possessed the petitions with the knowledge that none of these individuals actually affixed their signatures on the petition.  

In fact, while all the signatories were formerly residents of the Congregation, in actuality, they were in various other locations on July 18, 2013: Maryland, Texas, Georgia and Brazil.

The defendant was arrested today by Investigators from District Attorney’s office.

“In a democracy we have an expectation that the results of an election are the will of the people. When someone tampers with that system, as in this case by attesting to forged ballot signatures, a fundamental democratic process is breached. These kinds of actions are not politics. They are criminal and they will be prosecuted,” said District Attorney Janet DiFiore.

D’Aria was released on his own recognizance.

His next court date is Oct. 24, 2013 in Mount Pleasant Town Court.

He faces a maximum sentence of seven years in state prison.

Assistant District Attorney Stephen Ronco of the Public Integrity Bureau is prosecuting the case.

In compliance with Disciplinary Rule 7-107A of the Code of Professional Responsibility, you are advised that a charge is merely an accusation and that a defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.