WARREN, Ohio - A Warren man has pled guilty to collecting phony signatures in order to get an issue on the ballot regarding an impound lot in the city.

According to the Trumbull County Prosecutor's Office, 43-year-old Joseph Pizzulo pled guilty to a fifth degree felony charge of election falsification.

A representative for the Prosecutor's Office says Pizzulo was one of 26 people who collected signatures of citizens registered to vote in the City of Warren on petitions to stop the construction of a city-operated impound lot on Main Avenue SW in the summer of 2020.

However, it was found that Pizzulo had turned in about 45 signatures that were either fake or forged.

Thirty-seven-year-old Kayla Mergl-Farmer was also charged in this case. A resolution has not been reached in her case yet.

As for Pizzulo, no sentencing date has been set yet, but he could face six months to one year in prison.