Brian Bob Kenderes, the Democratic nominee in the 14th Congressional District, pleaded guilty to a felony count of filing a false voter registration.

Kenderes is scheduled to be sentenced July 25 in Lake County Common Pleas Court by Judge Patrick J. Condon.

Kenderes’ maximum sentence for the fifth-degree felony is one year in prison, a $2,500 fine and two years of probation, according to the written guilty plea he signed June 25.

Before his July 25 sentencing date, the Lake County Adult Probation Department will conduct an investigation into Kenderes including a drug and alcohol evaluation, and a psychological evaluation, according to Kenderes’ written guilty plea document.

Kenderes, who was given indigent status as he lists his sole source of income as Social Security Disability Insurance, remains free on a personal recognizance bond.

Kenderes did not respond Tuesday to requests for comment.

Kenderes, 42, is still the Democratic candidate in the 14th District, and has not withdrawn, said Dante Lewis, director of the Lake County Board of Elections.

The district includes all of Trumbull, Ashtabula, Lake and Geauga counties and all but two communities in Portage County and is considered a safe Republican district. U.S. Rep. Dave Joyce, R-Bainbridge, is seeking his seventh two-year term on the Nov. 5 ballot.

If Kenderes chooses to withdraw, he would have to do it in time for the Democratic Party to select a successor by the Aug. 12 deadline, Lewis said.

If Kenderes gets out of the race after Aug. 12, Joyce would run unopposed.

Trumbull County Democratic Party Chairman Mark Alberini said he “absolutely does not support him being on the ballot. Would I like to see him step down and replace him with someone else? Sure if there was a good, qualified, top-notch candidate who could fund this campaign at this late point. If that candidate doesn’t step forward, I’d rather not have somebody on” the ballot.

There is nothing prohibiting a felon — or even one in prison — from running for a U.S. House seat.

James A. Traficant Jr., a former congressman who represented most of the Mahoning Valley for more than 17 years, ran from federal prison in the 2002 election after being expelled from the U.S. House and sentenced to seven years for 10 felonies, including racketeering and bribery. Traficant got about 15% of the vote in 2002.

The Lake County Sheriff’s Office on March 22 charged Kenderes, the only Democrat to file for the 14th District this year, with the felony.

The sheriff’s office accused Kenderes of living in Strongsville, but filing his voter registration and nominating petitions with the Lake County Board of Elections stating he lives in Mentor.

Mentor is in Lake County, the district’s most-populous county, while Strongsville is in Cuyahoga County, which isn’t in the district.

However, a congressional candidate only needs to live in Ohio and not in the district to seek that office.

Kenderes filed three nominating petitions, also called candidate declarations, with signatures to get on the ballot with the Lake board dated Dec. 15, 16 and 19 stating he lives at 8930 Doral Drive in Mentor, as well as a voter registration form on Dec. 15 with the board with that same Mentor address.

After the elections board sent a letter to Kenderes at the Mentor address acknowledging his registration, his brother and sister-in-law, who live there, informed the board that Kenderes does not reside there and never has, according to the sheriff’s office complaint.

The couple – Joseph and Jill Kenderes – said the candidate has lived at 9049 Prospect Road in Strongsville since 2017.

The board forwarded the information to the county prosecutor’s office, which then sent it to the sheriff’s office for investigation.

Kenderes “refused to speak with detectives regarding the investigation,” the complaint states.

On documents Kenderes signed when the case was initially heard in Painesville Municipal Court, he listed the Strongsville address on a not guilty plea dated April 23 – he wasn’t permitted to plead guilty to a felony in a municipal court – and used a Garfield Heights address of 4882 E. 97th St. on an April 23 financial disclosure form to show he is indigent. Garfield Heights is in Cuyahoga County.

Joyce has $2.4 million in his campaign fund as of his last report. Kenderes hasn’t filed any finance reports with the Federal Election Commission as of Tuesday.

Have an interesting story? Contact David Skolnick by email at dskolnick@vindy.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @dskolnick.