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Rasheen Crews of Crews Consulting was working on behalf of "multiple candidates" in the 2019 Democratic Philadelphia mayoral primary to help fill out their nominating petitions, said state Attorney General Joshua Shapiro in a statement on Wednesday, Nov. 16.
But to get the forms filled, investigators say Crews hired "individuals" to sit in a hotel room and write "write names, addresses, and forged signatures" on the petitions, investigators said.
Crews then had the signatures notarized and filed with election officials, Shapiro said.
On the nominating petitions looked over by investigators, at least 1,000 signatures had been duplicated, officials said. Some names and addresses repeated on several pages, and other pages appeared to be entire photocopies of other pages, prosecutors said.
Authorities even got in touch with some individuals listed, who said they had never signed any petition, according to the release.
Shapiro did not name the candidates whose petitions were reviewed by investigators but said looming questions over the nominating process forced some candidates to withdraw from the race.
“In advance of the 2023 municipal elections, this arrest is an important reminder that interfering with the integrity of our elections is a serious crime,” the Attorney General said.
“By soliciting and organizing the wide-scale forgery of signatures, the defendant undermined the democratic process and Philadelphians’ right to a free and fair election. My office is dedicated to upholding the integrity of the election process across the Commonwealth, to ensure everyone can participate in Pennsylvania’s future," he added.
On his LinkedIn page, Crews says he founded Crews Consulting in 2009.
"For some clients, we are a full-service firm, providing strategy, communications management, and creative services, such as speechwriting or advertising," he wrote.
He has been employed as an Administrative Deputy in the city's office of the Register of Wills since January 2020, his LinkedIn shows.
It's not clear if Crews is yet in police custody. State court records for his case were not immediately available.
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