YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - An Austintown man is being held in the Mahoning County jail without bond after failing to show up in court and answer allegations that he falsified election petitions for a crime victims bill of rights amendment in Ohio.

Daniel Danus, 21, was taken into custody on Friday after Judge R. Scott Krichbaum issued a warrant for his arrest.

Danus was issued a summons to appear in court last month after the Mahoning County Grand Jury indicted him on one count of tampering with records and four counts of violating laws that govern the circulation of political petitions.

According to Assistant Mahoning County Prosecutor Mike Yacovone, Danus falsified sixteen petitions for the Ohio Crime Victims Bill of Rights amendment, also known as Marsy's Law for Ohio.

Yacovone says Danus used names from a phone book to fill out petitions.

He was caught because some of the names used belonged to people who have died.

The crimes are considered fifth-degree felonies punishable by six months to a year in prison.

Marsy's Law supporters gathered the required number of valid signatures for a spot on the November ballot.

The law would require those crime victims and their families be notified of all court proceedings, give victims some input on plea deals, and let victims tell their accounts of the crimes.

The issue is named after a California woman who was stalked and killed by her former boyfriend in 1983.