A political advertisement that some say skirted the bounds of fair play will be reviewed by Roanoke prosecutors to see if it also ran afoul of state law.

The commonwealth's attorney's office said Wednesday it received a complaint about the last-minute attack ad leveled at Court Rosen, a successful candidate for Roanoke City Council in Tuesday's election.

"We're going to look into it," Chief Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney Betty Jo Anthony said.

The full-page ad in The Roanoke Times described Rosen as "an inexperienced 29-year-old with no community involvement and no track record." It's not so much the content of the ad that's at issue, though; the inquiry will focus on whether it met legal requirements for newspaper political ads.

Councilman Brian Wishneff, who lost his bid for re-election Tuesday, has admitted that he made up the name of Joe Smith, which appeared at the bottom of the ad as the person who paid for the message.

And the political action committee that sponsored the ad, Citizens for Sensible Decisions, was not registered with the state as required by law, according to an official with the Virginia State Board of Elections.

Roanoke resident Jay Foster said he e-mailed a complaint to the State Board of Elections and Commonwealth's Attorney Donald Caldwell.

"What I saw in terms of running an ad like that and putting a false name on it just violates the most basic sense of decency I have about politics," said Foster, who is a member of the city Democratic Committee but said he did not actively support any of the city council candidates.

"It's blatantly wrong," Foster said of the ad, "and there ought to be some consequences."

Wishneff -- whose campaign posters included the slogan "Integrity Matters" -- said he does not think he's to blame because The Roanoke Times failed to inform him of the law's requirements.

Barbara Cockrell, director of operations with the State Board of Elections, said it's not clear if the law specifically forbids someone from making up a name of the person who paid for an ad.

But there is a law that requires an ad attacking one candidate to include the name of any other candidate who might benefit from the message, if the candidate who benefited worked with the sponsor of the ad.

Wishneff said he collaborated with members of Citizens for Sensible Decisions on the ad. But rather than put his own name on it, Wishneff told The Roanoke Times that the disclaimer should read: "Paid for by Joe Smith, Citizens for Sensible Decisions."

In an interview Tuesday, Wishneff said an advertising sales representative suggested that he make up a name after they differed on whether one was required -- an allegation The Roanoke Times has denied.

When a paid political ad is purchased in person, state law requires the newspaper to obtain proof of identity. If the transaction is made over the phone, as Roanoke Times spokeswoman Nan Mahone said the Rosen ad was, the newspaper is required only to take the telephone number of the person submitting the ad.

That requirement was met with the Rosen ad, Mahone said.

According to Wishneff, a member of Citizens for Sensible Decisions made initial arrangements for the ad and paid for it with her credit card. Wishneff said he ended up talking to a sales representative after the newspaper had some concerns about the ad's content -- including the lack of a name of an individual along with the political action committee that paid for it.

It was at that point, Wishneff said, that he made up the name of Joe Smith.

"We are currently re-examining our political advertising policies in light of the recent incident," said Heather Hernandez, advertising director at The Roanoke Times. "If any changes are made, we will communicate them to our customers."