Valley Libertarian chair turned down ‘really sweet deal,’ maintains he didn’t commit perjury - lehighvalleylive.com: - Rudy Miller
January 17, 2020 - "Northampton County’s libertarian party chairman was offered a 'really sweet deal' to take a plea bargain in his perjury case, according to his attorney. But Jake Towne turned down the deal because he did nothing wrong, according to attorney Gary Asteak.
"Towne on Thursday was ordered to stand trial on five criminal counts for signing a nomination petition for a Libertarian congressional candidate even though Towne wasn’t the person who collected the signatures. That person was Amber Correll ... charged with forging 25 of the signatures.... Towne paid Correll $2 per name to collect the signatures for ... Tim Silfies ... [who] ran for U.S. Congress as a libertarian in 2018....
"The government hasn’t accused Towne of forging signatures, but says he broke the law by signing as the circulator of the nominating petition even though Correll was the circulator. After a preliminary hearing Thursday, District Judge John Capobianco ordered Towne to stand trial for perjury, making false statements, tampering with records, making an unsworn falsification and tampering with public records.
"Asteak said it’s common practice for party officials to sign off as 'circulators' of nominating petitions even though they didn’t physically circulate the petitions. He said Towne looked over the sheet, matched the names to the addresses and was satisfied they were authentic. Asteak said he’s never heard of anyone charged criminally under these circumstances. If authorities believe the signatures are forged, they could be invalidated, he said. But it’s a stretch to charge Towne, he said. He also questioned five criminal charges for just one signature from Towne. The allegation might merit a charge of unsworn falsification, but not perjury, he said....
"Towne, 40, of Easton, ran for Congress in 2010 and ran for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 2018....
"Asteak said Republican officials brought the matter to the attention of law enforcement. The case went before an investigative grand jury which recommended charges against Towne and Correll. Asteak called the case a 'Republican hit job' to try to get Libertarian candidates off the ballot. He said an official with the state Republican Party sent a letter to local Libertarian leaders warning them 'to pull your names off the ballot or we’re going to the authorities.'
"'This prosecution should never have happened,' Asteak said. Messages left with the Republican Party of Pennsylvania and Northampton County Republican Committee weren’t returned Friday."
Read more: https://www.lehighvalleylive.com/news/2020/01/libertarian-chairman-turned-down-really-sweet-deal-maintains-he-didnt-commit-perjury.html
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January 17, 2020 - "Northampton County’s libertarian party chairman was offered a 'really sweet deal' to take a plea bargain in his perjury case, according to his attorney. But Jake Towne turned down the deal because he did nothing wrong, according to attorney Gary Asteak.
"Towne on Thursday was ordered to stand trial on five criminal counts for signing a nomination petition for a Libertarian congressional candidate even though Towne wasn’t the person who collected the signatures. That person was Amber Correll ... charged with forging 25 of the signatures.... Towne paid Correll $2 per name to collect the signatures for ... Tim Silfies ... [who] ran for U.S. Congress as a libertarian in 2018....
"The government hasn’t accused Towne of forging signatures, but says he broke the law by signing as the circulator of the nominating petition even though Correll was the circulator. After a preliminary hearing Thursday, District Judge John Capobianco ordered Towne to stand trial for perjury, making false statements, tampering with records, making an unsworn falsification and tampering with public records.
"Asteak said it’s common practice for party officials to sign off as 'circulators' of nominating petitions even though they didn’t physically circulate the petitions. He said Towne looked over the sheet, matched the names to the addresses and was satisfied they were authentic. Asteak said he’s never heard of anyone charged criminally under these circumstances. If authorities believe the signatures are forged, they could be invalidated, he said. But it’s a stretch to charge Towne, he said. He also questioned five criminal charges for just one signature from Towne. The allegation might merit a charge of unsworn falsification, but not perjury, he said....
"Towne, 40, of Easton, ran for Congress in 2010 and ran for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 2018....
"Asteak said Republican officials brought the matter to the attention of law enforcement. The case went before an investigative grand jury which recommended charges against Towne and Correll. Asteak called the case a 'Republican hit job' to try to get Libertarian candidates off the ballot. He said an official with the state Republican Party sent a letter to local Libertarian leaders warning them 'to pull your names off the ballot or we’re going to the authorities.'
"'This prosecution should never have happened,' Asteak said. Messages left with the Republican Party of Pennsylvania and Northampton County Republican Committee weren’t returned Friday."
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