Woman gets jail term for forging signatures

AUGUSTA – A 24-year-old woman is going to jail for 45 days for filing forged signatures in a 2005 petition drive for a racino in eastern Maine.

Amanda Arsenault of Northport pleaded guilty to an aggravated forgery charge Wednesday in Kennebec County Superior Court.

According to court records, Arsenault forged signatures that appeared on petitions filed in a dozen towns and with the secretary of state. The investigation into the validity of the signatures began after a town clerk saw the name of a deceased person on one of the petitions.

That petition drive failed to collect enough valid signatures. A subsequent drive resulted in a statewide referendum on November’s ballot, but Mainers voted against allowing a racetrack casino in Washington County.