Former GOP official charged with forging candidate's signatures

FORT WAYNE -- The former executive director of the Allen County Republican Party faces fraud charges after police said he acknowledged he forged the signatures of 11 township candidates on official forms.\nDouglas T. Foy, 41, of Fort Wayne, was charged with 11 felony counts of falsely making a declaration of candidacy or part of a declaration of candidacy, according to court documents filed Monday. If convicted, he faces six months to three years in prison on each charge.\nA warrant was issued Monday for Foy's arrest, said Robyn Niedzwiecki, spokeswoman for the Allen County prosecutor. He was not in custody as of Tuesday morning, she said.\nThe county GOP chairman fired Foy in August after he determined that the signatures had been forged on township board candidate filing forms. The Republican-controlled Allen County Election Board unanimously decided to remove the candidates from the ballot after Director Pam Finlayson agreed the signatures were not legitimate.\nThree of the candidates said Foy told them if anyone asked about the signatures on the forms, they should say they signed them, according to court documents.\nFoy presented a statement to the election board Aug. 11 acknowledging he signed the forms for the candidates. His statement said he only signed the forms because he believed a second, notarized signature was the official one.\n"I in no way intended to cheat the electoral process or deceive anyone by signing these forms," he wrote. "It was an error on my part, and I take full responsibility."\nThere was no listing for Foy in the Fort Wayne telephone directory.