A Westmont political consultant convicted of falsifying a candidate’s nominating petitions was sentenced Friday to probation and public service.

Rodney McCulloch, 43, was convicted in March of three counts of perjury, a Class 3 felony, and disregard for election code, a misdemeanor. At the two-day bench trial, DuPage Circuit Judge Michael Burke ruled that McCulloch lied under oath and violated election laws when he certified the validity of signatures on nominating petitions for Jim Gumm.

McCulloch, a longtime political consultant whose past clients include former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert and U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam, will be on probation for two years and required to serve 150 hours of public service. He was acquitted of forgery charges.

Gumm, 58, of Wheaton was seeking re-election as Milton Township Assessor in 2005 when he hired McCulloch to collect signatures for his petitions.

When questions arose about the signatures McCulloch collected, Gumm paid a handwriting expert $1,000 to analyze them.

The forensic expert told Gumm that the signatures appeared to be forged, at which point he withdrew from the race and turned the petitions over to the DuPage County state’s attorney’s office.

“I was happy with the judge’s ruling,” Gumm said in March. “I’m frustrated (about the forgery acquittal). Common sense tells me the man forged those signatures. I wish he would have been convicted on that count.”

During the trial, McCulloch testified he hired four homeless men to collect the signatures and didn’t know they were forged.

The state called more than a dozen Wheaton voters to the stand, who all testified that although their names appear on the petitions, they never signed them.

“Free and fair elections are the very bedrock of this country,” State’s Attorney Joe Birkett said in a written statement. “Mr. McCulloch tampered with this concept and in doing so not only deprived Mr. Gumm of his opportunity to run for public office, but also denied many citizens of Milton Township of an opportunity to vote for the candidate of their choice.”