Man arrested for cheating during campaign petitioning
A man is facing felony perjury charges after Cobleskill police say he collected signatures for a village election petition knowing they were ineligible.
Robert LaPietra, 64, of Morris, NY, was arrested Monday on thirteen counts of felony second-degree perjury and thirteen counts of felony offering a false instrument for filing.
Police say they received a complaint in the last three weeks alleging that LaPietra was encouraging people to sign a candidate's petition for the upcoming village of Cobleskill election, regardless of whether the signers were Cobleskill residents or not.
An investigation determined criminal charges were warranted, said Sheriff John Bates in a statement.
LaPietra was arraigned in Cobleskill Village Court and is due to reappear in Cobleskill September 9th and Schoharie Court September 22nd.
He was remanded to Schoharie County Jail on $5,000 bail.
