Providence woman charged in connection with falsifying nomination signatures during 2023 congressional special election

Published on Friday, May 31, 2024

An indictment, information, or complaint is merely an allegation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Attorney General Peter F. Neronha and Colonel Darnell S. Weaver announced today that a Providence woman has been charged in Providence County Superior Court with knowingly falsifying and submitting nomination papers, stemming from an investigation by the Office of the Attorney General and the Rhode Island State Police into allegations of fraudulent nomination signatures during the 2023 First Congressional District Special Election.

On May 29, 2024, the Statewide Grand Jury returned a secret indictment charging Holly McClaren (age 52) with two counts of falsely certifying nomination papers and two counts of filing false documents with a public official. The indictment was sealed, and a warrant was issued for the defendant. On May 31, the defendant voluntarily appeared in Providence County Superior Court, where the Court unsealed the secret indictment and she was arraigned. 

As alleged, on days and dates between July 11, 2023, and July 13, 2023, the defendant knowingly falsified nomination papers, and caused those nomination papers to be submitted to the Jamestown and Newport Boards of Canvassers on behalf of then-candidate Sabina Matos.

The defendant is scheduled for a pre-trial conference on August 8, 2024.

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