A perennial candidate for city and state offices from Forest Hills, known for a history of political dirty tricks in multiple failed campaigns, was taken into custody Wednesday, June 24, hours after losing his latest primary election the night before.
Jonathan Rinaldi, 47, was arrested by members of the Queens District Attorney’s Detective Bureau and arraigned on a criminal complaint charging him with forgery and criminal possession of a forged instrument for allegedly creating and distributing false political endorsements and fake news articles using artificial intelligence during in a deliberate effort to mislead voters ahead of the 2025 City Council election in District 29. Rinaldi, who is known in the tabloids as “The Sperminator” after fathering 15 children through sperm donations, allegedly used AI technology to forge graphics that included a legitimate endorsement sheet that he modified to falsely depict support for his own campaign.
