Attorney General Corbett thinks Veon will serve prison time

March 23, 2010
By Brad Burnsted
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

HARRISBURG — Attorney General Tom Corbett said today he expects a judge will sentence former House Democratic Whip Mike Veon to prison on multiple felony convictions.

But Corbett would not say what his office might recommend for sentencing.

"Personally, yes," Corbett said, when asked whether he believes Veon will draw a prison term.

Veon, convicted Monday night on public corruption charges, remains free on bail. His sentencing is scheduled for May 21.

Veon could face a maximum 73 years behind bars. Former aides Annamarie Perretta-Rosepink and Brett Cott face 25 and 17 years, respectively, Corbett said. A Dauphin County jury acquitted a third aide, Stephen Keefer.

"Is he going to serve the maximum? Of course not," said Montgomery County attorney Mark Schwartz, a former aide to the late Democratic House Speaker Leroy Irvis. "Is he going to be let off with a slap on the wrist ... a little sabbatical? I'd be surprised."

The verdict sends a message to lawmakers at the state Capitol to "stop using the people's money for personal benefit," said Chief Deputy Attorney General Frank Fina.

The attorney general's office plans to go to trial again against Veon and Rosepink April 19, on charges of misusing the nonprofit Beaver Initiative for Growth, or BIG, for Veon's personal and political benefit.

"We are going forward," said Kevin Harley, a spokesman for Attorney General Tom Corbett.

The jury found Veon guilty of public corruption charges that included a scheme to pay $1.4 million in taxpayers' money to legislative staffers for work on campaigns.

The BIG and bonus charges are part of a three-year investigation by Corbett's office that resulted in criminal charges against 25 current and former legislators and staff, including Veon.

After a six week trial, the jury deliberated seven days, finding Veon, 53, guilty of 13 felonies and one misdemeanor. He sat impassively at the defense table, his hands folded, as the verdict was read.

"Another time, another day," Veon said when asked for comment as he left the courtroom. His attorneys said they would appeal, and Veon said about them: "I appreciate the ferocious and fierce defense they put on."

"We think it's a good day for the people of Pennsylvania," Fina told reporters. "Veon was convicted of stealing more than $1 million in taxpayers' money."

The jury found Perretta-Rosepink, 47, guilty of five counts, and former staffer Brett Cott, 37, guilty of three counts.

Keefer burst into tears at the defense table when he learned jurors acquitted him.

"I'm thrilled for Steve Keefer," Veon said.

Asked what he would tell his 14-year-old son about the verdict, Keefer said: "I already did." He sent a "tweet" on Twitter from the courtroom.

Veon, formerly of Beaver Falls, was one of the Legislature's most powerful leaders during the past decade. Prosecutors said he used public resources to expand his political power and give Democrats an edge at the polls.

State-paid staffers helped his races and those of other Democratic candidates, witnesses said, helping Democrats to recapture the majority in the House in 2006.

Corbett, a Republican running for governor, accused Veon of having his staff conduct opposition research and fundraising for candidates on state time and with state resources.

Witnesses said Veon's staffers prepared campaign literature at state expense and worked at phone banks and knocked on doors on state time.

Veon was convicted of theft, conflict of interest and conspiracy in connection with 2004, '05 and '06 bonuses. He was found guilty of one count of conflict of interest for having staffers travel across the country at state expense to take his motorcycles to a rally in Sturgis, S.D.

The jury acquitted Veon of 45 charges, including that he billed taxpayers for $22,000 after basketball games with fellow lawmakers while he collected per diems for food and lodging and that he used public resources to get consumer advocate Ralph Nader off the 2004 ballot to help Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry.

"This is just the beginning of the fight," said Dan Raynak, a Phoenix lawyer and college friend of Veon's from Allegheny College.

Raynak said there were "many errors" throughout the trial, including the decision by Judge Richard Lewis to prevent defense lawyers from arguing "selective prosecution" by Corbett. Raynak cited what he claims were threatening and intimidating tactics by Corbett's investigators.

"I am absolutely convinced of Mike Veon's innocence," Raynak said.

Defense lawyers portrayed Veon as an honest, hard-working legislator whose office handled more constituent work than any other. They said Veon didn't know his staffers were doing political work, and attacked the credibility of prosecution witnesses, many of whom agreed to plea bargains or were granted immunity to testify for the prosecution.

Seven former House Democratic staffers in January entered guilty pleas for their roles in the bonus scheme. Six became witnesses at Veon's trial.

Corbett's office charged 10 Republicans with buying sophisticated computer programs and equipment for campaign purposes.

In a separate case, former House Speaker Bill DeWeese, a Greene County Democrat, one of his aides and former Rep. Steve Stetler of York face charges of using state taxpayer resources for campaigns. DeWeese is seeking re-election.

Republican Rep. Jim Marshall defeated Veon in 2006, in the fallout from the 2005 middle-of-the-night legislative pay raise that Veon helped engineer. When voters expressed outrage, lawmakers repealed the pay increase for themselves and executive branch officials; it later was reinstated for judges.