BIDDEFORD, Maine — Former Maine political candidate Matthew Toth pleaded guilty to two counts of unsworn falsification in York County Court Wednesday.
Toth attempted to obtain public campaign funding through the Maine Clean Election Act program. That can only happen if a candidate submits a specific number of $5 donations and matching signatures from voters from their district.
Under the program, candidates who qualify for public funding cannot use any private donations during that campaign cycle.
As a Republican, Toth sought to represent House District 143 in Sanford. In December of 2022, he was indicted for 13 counts of aggravated forgery and two counts of unsworn falsification, according to the Maine Ethics Commission.
Assistant Attorney General Leanne Robbin said Wednesday that the state dropped the 13 aggravated forgery charges, which are felonies, due to Toth not having a prior criminal history and his young age.
After entering his guilty plea, Toth was sentenced to a 10-day alternative sentencing program. Robbin said he will be working at Pine Tree Camp in Kennebec County, a location run by the Pine Tree Society nonprofit. He will work and stay at the camp for 10 days. Toth is expected to begin serving that sentence on October 14.
“We need to deter candidates from forging signatures on these forms," Robbin said. “So that’s why the bar is set so high, we don’t give away public money unless this candidate can show they have a certain amount of support that they can meet that threshold and that they follow the rules.”
Toth did take time to apologize to the court for his actions.
“These are public funds and we want them used appropriately," Assistant Director of the Maine Ethics Commission Martha Currier said. “Reading the fine print, following the rules is very, very important because we will track down anyone who is not reporting these things accurately.”
Currier said the commission reads through every signature that is submitted by candidates. She said these violations are rare. In the last 23 years, nine such violations have warranted prosecution by the Attorney General's office.
Democratic Representative Clinton Collamore was sentenced earlier this year to a similar work program after he was charged with similar violations as Toth. Collamore resigned from his House District 45 position and returned all the Clean Election funds he received back to the state.