3-5 BONUSGATE - Veon Guilty
HARRISBURG - A Dauphin County jury today found former Rep. Mike Veon guilty of misusing funds of a Beaver County nonprofit he founded and fueled with $10 million in state grants.
Veon's co-defendant, Annamarie Perretta-Rosepink, his district office chief and an employee of the nonprofit Beaver Initiative for Growth, or BIG, was found guilty on the six criminal charges she faced.
Veon, 55, once one of the Capitol's power brokers, will return to Laurel Highland State Correctional Institution where he is serving a six- to 14-year sentence. He has about four years remaining to serve. He was convicted in 2010 for approving a $1.4 million illegal bonus program, and using other state resources, for campaign work. The bonuses gave legislative staffers incentive to work on campaigns, witnesses said.
The new conviction could add years to the time Veon is serving, if the judge decides to make the sentence consecutive with his prior sentence on 13 felonies and a misdemeanor. He will be sentenced April 18.
"He`s facing significant additional time," said Deputy Attorney General Laurel Brandstetter. The attorney general`s office will ask for consecutive sentences, Brandstetter said.
The jury of six men and six women returned the verdict convicting Veon on 10 of the 15 charges he faced after deliberating Thursday and Friday. The jurors heard testimony and arguments over nine days.
Joel Sansone, one of Veon`s lawyers, said he will appeal. "We still don`t see any criminal conduct," Sansone said.
"We`re stunned" by the verdicts against Rosepink, said Sansone.
"Today is a sad day for the Commonwealth and the people of the Commonwealth," Sansone said. Former Attorney General and now Gov. Tom Corbett, a Republican, "continues to get to press his agenda and pick on a man (Veon) who can`t defend himself," Sansone said.
Corbett launched the investigation of BIG after a series of stories about the nonprofit by the Tribune-Review in 2006.
Asked to respond, Corbett`s spokesman Kevin Harley said only that "Veon has now twice been convicted by a jury of his peers for stealing tax dollars."
"This man is innocent," Veon's attorney Dan Raynak had argued before the jury. But Brandstetter called Veon "a thief"" for using BIG funds as his own.
Chief Deputy Attorney General Frank Fina said the verdict "continues the string of jury verdicts that speak to public corruption in Pennsylvania."
Twenty-five legislative staffers, lawmakers and former legislators including Veon, were charged in public corruption cases by the attorney general`s office. Twenty-one Democrats and Republicans entered guilty pleas or were convicted at trial on charges stemming from the overall theft of millions of state tax dollars. Two people were acquitted at trial and the case against another was dropped.
State Sen. Jane Orie, R-McCandless, is on trial in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court on charges of using state resources for campaigns in a case brought by the district attorney`s office.
Veon, the former House Democratic whip, was the go-to lawmaker in the House for former Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell from 2003 through 2006, when Veon lost his seat.
He was defeated after being the only state legislator to vote against repeal of a controversial pay raise in 2005. It was viewed as a sign of arrogance and was used against him extensively by Republicans in the November general election. Rep. Jim Marshall, R-Beaver County, defeated him and still holds the seat.
Witnesses said Veon expected grant money for economic development to take off after Rendell was elected in 2002, and it did.
Prosecutors alleged he used BIG funds to further his re-election prospects and to enrich a family member.
Raynak asked the jury not to convict his client based on the "word of a convicted felon beholden to the prosecution." He was referring to prosecution witness Jeffrey Foreman, an attorney convicted of corruption in the bonus case and Veon's former chief of staff.
Raynak also belittled the prosecution's use of "10-time convicted felon" Michael Manzo, former chief of staff for the House Democratic Caucus.
Prosecutors claimed that Veon - through Foreman - arranged a $160,000 job for his brother, Mark Veon, with a consultant that received $1 million from BIG. Mike Veon was acquitted on five charges tied to the consultant, Delta Development Co.
Prosecutors also alleged Veon used BIG funds to pay $4,000 per month in legal fees from BIG to Foreman's Harrisburg law firm. Foreman said he did little or no work for BIG.
The nonprofit based in Beaver Falls rented an office on the South Side above a cigar store staffed by a legislative aide who worked for former Democratic leader Bill DeWeese, of Greene County. Veon and DeWeese had a power sharing agreement to run the House, Manzo said.
The nonprofit was based in Beaver Falls but rented an office on the South Side above a cigar store staffed by a legislative aide who worked for former Democratic leader Bill DeWeese, of Greene County. Veon and DeWeese had a power-sharing agreement to run the House, Manzo said.
As a state convict, Veon was handcuffed on his way into and out of the courtroom. He handcuffs also were linked to a chain that surrounds his waste. But the jury was not told about his conviction nor was it supposed to see him in handcuffs. To the jury he appeared as an immaculately dressed "retired politician."
Veon's co-defendant, Annamarie Perretta-Rosepink, his district office chief and an employee of the nonprofit Beaver Initiative for Growth, or BIG, was found guilty on the six criminal charges she faced.
Veon, 55, once one of the Capitol's power brokers, will return to Laurel Highland State Correctional Institution where he is serving a six- to 14-year sentence. He has about four years remaining to serve. He was convicted in 2010 for approving a $1.4 million illegal bonus program, and using other state resources, for campaign work. The bonuses gave legislative staffers incentive to work on campaigns, witnesses said.
The new conviction could add years to the time Veon is serving, if the judge decides to make the sentence consecutive with his prior sentence on 13 felonies and a misdemeanor. He will be sentenced April 18.
"He`s facing significant additional time," said Deputy Attorney General Laurel Brandstetter. The attorney general`s office will ask for consecutive sentences, Brandstetter said.
The jury of six men and six women returned the verdict convicting Veon on 10 of the 15 charges he faced after deliberating Thursday and Friday. The jurors heard testimony and arguments over nine days.
Joel Sansone, one of Veon`s lawyers, said he will appeal. "We still don`t see any criminal conduct," Sansone said.
"We`re stunned" by the verdicts against Rosepink, said Sansone.
"Today is a sad day for the Commonwealth and the people of the Commonwealth," Sansone said. Former Attorney General and now Gov. Tom Corbett, a Republican, "continues to get to press his agenda and pick on a man (Veon) who can`t defend himself," Sansone said.
Corbett launched the investigation of BIG after a series of stories about the nonprofit by the Tribune-Review in 2006.
Asked to respond, Corbett`s spokesman Kevin Harley said only that "Veon has now twice been convicted by a jury of his peers for stealing tax dollars."
"This man is innocent," Veon's attorney Dan Raynak had argued before the jury. But Brandstetter called Veon "a thief"" for using BIG funds as his own.
Chief Deputy Attorney General Frank Fina said the verdict "continues the string of jury verdicts that speak to public corruption in Pennsylvania."
Twenty-five legislative staffers, lawmakers and former legislators including Veon, were charged in public corruption cases by the attorney general`s office. Twenty-one Democrats and Republicans entered guilty pleas or were convicted at trial on charges stemming from the overall theft of millions of state tax dollars. Two people were acquitted at trial and the case against another was dropped.
State Sen. Jane Orie, R-McCandless, is on trial in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court on charges of using state resources for campaigns in a case brought by the district attorney`s office.
Veon, the former House Democratic whip, was the go-to lawmaker in the House for former Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell from 2003 through 2006, when Veon lost his seat.
He was defeated after being the only state legislator to vote against repeal of a controversial pay raise in 2005. It was viewed as a sign of arrogance and was used against him extensively by Republicans in the November general election. Rep. Jim Marshall, R-Beaver County, defeated him and still holds the seat.
Witnesses said Veon expected grant money for economic development to take off after Rendell was elected in 2002, and it did.
Prosecutors alleged he used BIG funds to further his re-election prospects and to enrich a family member.
Raynak asked the jury not to convict his client based on the "word of a convicted felon beholden to the prosecution." He was referring to prosecution witness Jeffrey Foreman, an attorney convicted of corruption in the bonus case and Veon's former chief of staff.
Raynak also belittled the prosecution's use of "10-time convicted felon" Michael Manzo, former chief of staff for the House Democratic Caucus.
Prosecutors claimed that Veon - through Foreman - arranged a $160,000 job for his brother, Mark Veon, with a consultant that received $1 million from BIG. Mike Veon was acquitted on five charges tied to the consultant, Delta Development Co.
Prosecutors also alleged Veon used BIG funds to pay $4,000 per month in legal fees from BIG to Foreman's Harrisburg law firm. Foreman said he did little or no work for BIG.
The nonprofit based in Beaver Falls rented an office on the South Side above a cigar store staffed by a legislative aide who worked for former Democratic leader Bill DeWeese, of Greene County. Veon and DeWeese had a power sharing agreement to run the House, Manzo said.
The nonprofit was based in Beaver Falls but rented an office on the South Side above a cigar store staffed by a legislative aide who worked for former Democratic leader Bill DeWeese, of Greene County. Veon and DeWeese had a power-sharing agreement to run the House, Manzo said.
As a state convict, Veon was handcuffed on his way into and out of the courtroom. He handcuffs also were linked to a chain that surrounds his waste. But the jury was not told about his conviction nor was it supposed to see him in handcuffs. To the jury he appeared as an immaculately dressed "retired politician."