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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; A one-time district judge candidate pleaded guilty Wednesday to charges he falsified nomination petition signatures for a city magisterial post held for three decades by his father.</p><p>Jared Martin Kane, 34, of Wilkes-Barre, pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count each of forgery, false swearing, false signatures on a nomination petition and fraudulent filing of a nomination petition. He was sentenced immediately to 18 months probation and 50 hours of community service.</p><p>Kane entered the plea at the county&#8217;s Penn Place Building in a hearing presided over by retired Monroe County Court of Common Pleas Judge Jerome P. Cheslock. The former judge was brought in to preside over the proceeding due a conflict of interest regarding the Kane family&#8217;s ties to the area, First Assistant District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce said outside the courtroom.</p><p>Kane&#8217;s father, Martin Kane, retired in January after serving as magisterial district judge in Wilkes-Barre since 1986. The longtime judge&#8217;s wife, Kathy, is a former city councilwoman and controller who once headed the Luzerne County Democratic Party.</p><p>Al Flora Jr., Kane&#8217;s attorney, said Kane&#8217;s parents had &#8220;a very difficult time&#8221; with the charges.</p><p>&#8220;They surely did not raise their son to engage in illegal conduct,&#8221; he said.</p><p>Flora said he believed the sentence was fair and that his client&#8217;s missteps were &#8220;an anomaly.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;This was not a sophisticated scheme,&#8221; Flora said. &#8220;Anybody looking at the nominating petition would realize that there was a problem just by looking at the signatures. You didn&#8217;t have to be a rocket scientist.&#8221;</p><p>Allegations Kane forged signatures on his Republican nomination petition surfaced in the days leading up to last year&#8217;s May primary election, where the candidate appeared poised to succeed his father. Kane, who cross-filed to appear on both party ballots, ultimately lost the election to Tom Malloy in a landslide decision.</p><p>Over 100 of Kane&#8217;s supporters <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/news/20314/condemned-homicide-house-on-kanes-petition" target="_blank">allegedly signed the notarized document</a>, including a man who reportedly moved to another country months before etching his signature, and another listing the home address of a condemned, roach-infested home that was the scene of a 2013 homicide.</p><p>Citing &#8220;infestation,&#8221; city officials in 2013 posted the property as unfit for human habitation after Vaughn Kemp, 24, was fatally shot outside the double-block home.</p><p>Flora said Kane made &#8220;a bad mistake,&#8221; but accepted responsibility from the onset of the investigation.</p><p>&#8220;The kid just realized he let his family down, he let the judiciary down, and he let the public down,&#8221; he said. &#8220;That&#8217;s a hard thing to live with.&#8221;</p><p>In a statement to the court, Kane apologized to his friends and family and those who supported his campaign.</p><p>Following the hearing, Sanguedolce said he was pleased with the outcome of the investigation.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;re happy to have it completed finally. From our standpoint, the case is over,&#8221; he said, adding that Kane &#8220;cooperated fully&#8221; with investigators.</p><p>City Wide Towing owner Bob Kadluboski forwarded concerns surrounding the 107-name petition to Luzerne County District Attorney Stefanie Salavantis in mid-May, pressing the DA to file criminal charges against the candidate as the deadline to challenge nomination petitions had passed two months before.</p><p>Charges were ultimately filed in November. Kane elected to waive his right to a preliminary hearing and formal arraignment, sending the charges to county court.</p><p>Kadluboski on Wednesday lauded the efforts of the county district attorney&#8217;s office and state police in landing Kane&#8217;s plea, but said he still questioned who signed the forged signatures on the petition.</p><p>&#8220;From what I understand, he didn&#8217;t do it himself,&#8221; Kadluboski said. &#8220;There&#8217;s other people involved.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Kane </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_kane-5.jpg</photo0><caption0>Kane </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>One-time district judge candidate gets 18 months probation</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Joe Dolinsky</p><p>jdolinsky@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Joe Dolinsky at 570-991-6110 or on Twitter @JoeDolinskyTL</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Jared Kane pleads guilty to forging nomination petition