HARRISBURG — A former Democratic state representative from Erie and a top aide were accused Thursday of submitting dozens of fraudulent nominating-petition signatures to get the legislator on the ballot two years ago.

Linda Bebko-Jones, 61, and chief of staff Mary B. Fiolek, 60, were charged after an eyewitness told a grand jury that the two combed the Erie phone book and Bebko-Jones' personal address book to generate fake signatures the day before they were due.

The Democrat, first elected in 1992, announced she would not seek re-election in March 2006, one day before she was scheduled to appear at a court hearing on a petition challenge. The seat is currently held by Rep. Patrick Harkins, D-Erie, running unopposed for a second term.

An investigator told the grand jury that people on one of her petitions denied having signed it. One supposed signatory had been dead for six years.

Bebko-Jones' son Bryan Jones, who testified before the grand jury under a grant of immunity, said he gave Fiolek his permission to forge his name on some of the petitions as the person who circulated them, according to court records.

Fiolek's lawyer, Joseph P. Conti, said Thursday she intended to plead not guilty but declined to comment on the substance of the allegations.

A former state senator for whom Bebko-Jones once worked, Anthony "Buzz" Andrezeski, wrote the attorney general's office in October 2006 to complain about petition irregularities, including the apparent forgery of his 87-year-old mother's signature.