Woman accused of forging signatures for fiancée's council bid now charged for forging petitions for county seat
Jul. 3—The fiancée of a Scranton City Council candidate criminally charged with forging signatures on his nominating petitions faces new accusations she faked signatures on the petitions of a man who sought the Republican nomination for Lackawanna County treasurer.
Amber Pascucci, who is engaged to 33-year-old Republican council candidate Darwin Shaw, forged the signatures of five people on behalf of Joe Albert, who paid her $80 to help him get on the ballot in May's primary, police said.
The charge brought Friday by county Detective Joseph M. Blazosek marks the second time Pascucci, 33, faced forgery and other counts for alleged election fraud.
Last month, Blazosek accused Pascucci of forging four signatures on petitions she circulated for Shaw. Shaw forged the signatures of 11 people, the detectives said.
The couple, who live at 303 N. Filmore Ave., are both free on bail in that case and have a preliminary hearing scheduled July 11. Shaw proclaimed they are innocent and "slander" suggesting otherwise has adversely impacted his life.
"I think this is all a political stunt," he said.
Attempts to reach Pascucci were unsuccessful.
Lackawanna County District Attorney Mark Powell said additional criminal charges are not pending against Shaw for alleged forgeries in Albert's bid for treasurer.
Albert, 75, ultimately did not submit his paperwork to the county Department of Elections because signatures on petitions were suspect, he said.
As the March 7 deadline neared to circulate and file nominating petitions, Albert fell short of the 250 signatures needed to appear on the ballot for a county seat.
Shaw, meanwhile, managed to gather more than 300 in his own bid for a city council seat.
Shaw and Pascucci became involved with Albert at the recommendation of Charlie Spano, a recent Republican candidate for mayor of Scranton.
"I told Joe these two people (Shaw and Pascucci) could help gather signatures," Spano said.
Albert gave Pascucci $80 in cash to help, police said.
Pennsylvania law allows candidates to pay another to gather signatures on nominating petitions, said attorney Don Frederickson, solicitor for the county Board of Election and Bureau of Election. Candidates are not required to disclose who did so on their behalf.
Albert reviewed the names Pascucci gathered and noticed they looked similar, according to police. Shaw, confronted by Albert, vouched for their legitimacy.
Blazosek spoke with several people whose names appeared on Albert's nominating petition. Many denied signing it and some pointed out their names were misspelled. Other addresses listed are vacant homes.
A preliminary hearing in the new case is also scheduled July 11. Court filings do not indicate that Shaw and Pascucci have retained attorneys.
Shaw remains on the ballot, Frederickson said. No one challenged his petitions when he filed them March 6.
In the May primary, Shaw was unopposed and won a Republican nomination to seek election for the last two years of former Councilman Kyle Donahue's term. Donahue resigned to take a seat as a state representative. Councilman Gerald Smurl, who was appointed to replace Donahue, won the Democratic nomination.
Since Albert did not submit his nominating petitions — doing so would have violated the law, he said — no Republican appeared on the ballot for county treasurer.
Albert still almost got the nod as a write-in candidate in May. He fell six votes short of the party's nomination.
"I'm very disappointed," Albert said. "She cost me the Republican nomination for Lackawanna County treasurer. I hope she's prosecuted to the fullest extent."
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