Veon and Rosepink Sentenced This Morning

Follow Tracey Mauriello's Twitter Tweets on the right column for up to date news on the sentencing of Anna Marie Peretta-Rosepink and former State Representative Michael Veon this morning. You can also find the Bonusgate Twitter here.

Anna Marie Peretta-Rosepink received 3-6 months in Dauphin County jail, followed by intermediate punishment(3 months house arrest) & probation. Also $8,000 in fines and $25,000 restitution. She has to prepare for a second court case she is involved in so Judge Lewis set bail at $25,000.00 pending appeal. She smiled after receiving her sentence. Brett Cott's previous sentencing had to weigh on her mind.

10:14 A.M. Veon Sentencing starting Veon Attorney Dan Raynak says he is going to take a little time.

You can read Mauriello's update story on Post Gazette here.

11:27 A.M. Judge Lewis says Veon will not get probation for "blatant criminal activity" and he state Veon abused power despite helping alot of people.

11:28 A.M. Veon receives 9-24 months on first count with 13 more counts to go

11:32 A.M. Halfway through counts and up to 28 months to 8 years

11:35 A.M. $37,000 fine, $100,000.00 restitution prison time 6 to 14 years.

Veon is denied bail and led out of the courtroom in handcuffs.

11:54 A.M. Veon led back into courtroom without cuffs for a vice hearing to see if Attorney Raynak from Arizona can represent him in another proceeding.

Mauriello's story on the Veon sentencing Post Gazette.

Pa House Takes Immigration Fight To Its Floor

In this Post-Gazette article out of Pittsburgh Pennsylvania's House led by Majority Leader Todd Eachus passed two companion bills aimed at the illegal immigration crisis in Pennsylvania.

House Bill 1502, which bars companies that hire illegal aliens from entering into state construction contracts, was passed 188 to 6. A companion bill, House Bill 1503, which could cost a company its state license and bar it from entering into construction contracts with other private firms, was passed 188 to 7.

Rep. John Galloway, D-Bucks, said some contractors, apparently in an effort to lower costs, are hiring illegal immigrants for construction jobs and paying them less than legal wages and not providing health benefits. The illegal aliens also aren't paying state and federal taxes, he said. This situation is hurting unemployed Pennsylvanians who are seeking work, he said.

Some business groups, including chambers of commerce, oppose the bills, which may cause them to face a difficult time in the Republican-controlled Senate. Under the measures, which Mr. Galloway said 14 other states have already enacted, companies would have to use a system called E-Verify, which includes millions of Social Security numbers in a federal, online database, to ensure that each of its workers has a legal Social Security number or the proper papers showing he or she has entered the U.S. legally.

Approximately two years ago when Lou Barletta challenged Paul Kanjorski the media was proclaiming that the illegal alien fight was relegated to the back burner as an issue. After Arizona passed their bills the illegal immigration issue is front and center. Since Judge Munley has yet to have his decision upheld it will be interesting to see how this issue is resolved in the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.

In 2007 Rep. Todd Eachus had this to say about illegal immigration.

Hoping to halt illegal immigration into Pennsylvania, state Rep. Todd Eachus, D-116, has a package of bills in the hopper that would penalize companies that knowingly use illegal labor.

The measures would require employers to repay public money if they use illegal immigrants on taxpayer-funded projects and give state officials authority to yank the professional licenses of businesses that knowingly hire illegal workers.

Eachus, the House Majority Policy chairman, blasted the Bush administration for inaction when he introduced the bills last June.
With last week’s announcement by federal Homeland Security and Commerce officials that border security will be improved and employers will be expected to fire workers without valid Social Security numbers or face penalties, Eachus said Monday he is more optimistic that Washington will enforce existing laws against illegal workers.

“I’m gratified by the fact that Homeland Security and the Bush administration is focusing on compliance in the workplace,” said Eachus. “Our bills mirror what the feds should have been doing all along.”

After the bashing Barack Obama has been taking over the illegal alien issue Eachus's words fall on deaf ears for politicizing an issue affecting all Americans. Let's see if Eachus calls out his own Democratic President for inaction. Has Barack Obama and his administration enforced existing laws against illegal workers or were they trying to figure a way out to pave a path to citizenship in the hopes they would join the Democratic ranks?? How does Todd Eachus square up the Democratic House's vote today with Concerned Parents of Hazleton Area and former school director Elaine Curry who was pandering to that group? Better yet can anyone tell us where Eugenio Sosa, former president and founder of the Concerned Parents of Hazleton Area, is today?

Over at Capitol Ideas by John Micek he will tiene que empezar a escribir su columna en español. La pregunta es si va a comer sus palabras sobre la inmigración ilegal y el impacto que ha tenido en todo el estado y la nación. En serio entrada ilegal o remianing en el país no es acerca de la inmigración es sobre la capacidad de un país a concentrar sus limitados recursos, ya sea monetario o de mano de obra para atender las preocupaciones de unos pocos sobre las necesidades de las masas.

"Mad As Hell" Grand Jury- Pennsylvania

Tracey Mauriello of the Post-Gazette characterizes the report developed by a grand jury investigating the misuse of taxpayer money commonly referred in the media as Bonusgate as a "mad as hell grand jury".

A "mad as hell" grand jury that investigated the Bonusgate scandal issued a list of recommendations improving a state Legislature they condemned as "broken," but was skeptical that any of the proposals would ever occur in a system so rife with corruption.

"The current operational structure and ingrained procedures of the Pennsylvania House Democratic and Republican caucuses are irretrievably broken and in desperate need of systemic change," the grand jurors wrote.

The self-serving culture of the Legislature's caucus system and patronage is so entrenched, the grand jury wrote, that the only way any change might take place is through a constitutional convention.

"The grand jury has determined beyond any doubt that the General Assembly, if left to its own devices, is utterly incapable of reforming itself," the report said.

The wide-ranging recommendations, filed Monday in Dauphin County Common Pleas Court, call for eliminating partisan caucuses, reducing a bloated staff and even changing the kinds of constituent services handled in district offices.

The grand jury found that legislative employees spent "an enormous amount of time working on political campaigns when they were supposed to be performing their legislative duties." They said "all campaign work on legislative time must be eliminated."

In a filing that accompanied the report, Judge Barry Feudale, supervisor of the grand jury, said grand jurors were "mad as hell" to hear from numerous witnesses that "no one's guilty because everybody does it."

Link to Grand Jury Recommendations at Post-Gazette

Come November lets see if the voters are as angry as the grand jury members and have the courage to oust those in power.

Kanjorski- Don't Celebrate Just Yet

Jack Kelly at the Post-Gazette wrote a post today about the meaning of the primary results for Democrats.

Democrats: no reason to celebrate


There were also more votes in the Republican primaries than in the Democratic primaries in the districts represented by Democrats Patrick Murphy, Chris Carney and Tim Holden, and in the district currently held by Rep. Sestak.

Rep. Kanjorski could muster just 49.3 percent of the vote against two opponents in his primary. For an incumbent, that's a recipe for toast come November.

BREAKING NEWS: LEWIS TO RULE CASE BY CASE ON DEM SUBPOENAS

VS.

Tracie Mauriello filed this report in the Post Gazette as the Commonwealth rested its case in the Michael Veon Bonusgate trial.

Prosecutors rest in Bonusgate case
Friday, March 05, 2010
By Tracie Mauriello, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
HARRISBURG -- After five weeks and 29 witnesses, prosecutors at 4:15 p.m. rested their case against former state Rep. Mike Veon and three former aides in the government corruption trial known as Bonusgate.

Defense attorneys are expected to begin calling witnesses Monday in a trial that is lasting much longer than predicted.

SOP has learned that the Judge did not issue a ruling on the House Democratic Representative subpoenas issued by Veon's attorneys including Todd Eachus and James Wansacz. It appears he will deal with them case-by-case as they come up according to Tracie.

Attorneys for House Democrats and the potential witnesses said the request could run afoul of the special constitutional protections given to the internal discussions of the Legislature. The attorney general's office told Lewis the witnesses may also seek to exercise their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

In this article that appeared in the Times Leader back on July 7,2009 Eachus and his spokesperson, Brett Marcy were quoted as saying this:

Eachus wanted to make it clear that the subpoenas were not served by the attorney general or any law enforcement agency, but by the defense. He said he and current HDC staff have “cooperated fully” with the attorney general’s investigation.

HDC spokesman Brett Marcy said Eachus was not among the legislators who testified before the grand jury, nor was he interviewed by any law enforcement officials regarding the Bonusgate case.

Again we ask the question- How did Todd Eachus make the claim of fully co-operating when his spokesman says he never talked to anyone?

More importantly why didn't Todd Eachus show up at the grand jury when he was sent a Christmas time invitation to appear by AG Tom Corbett? They wanted to know whether Eachus had any information concerning state money and resources that were misused for political purposes. One would believe than an elected official who had any knowledge of wrongdoing would want to do the right thing for the taxpayers.

Instead Mr. Eachus et al are resisting any attempts including failing to appear before the Grand Jury to discuss the matter. Never mind that fact that Grand Jury witnesses "fingered" Eachus in the Bonusgate matter. One would believe he and others would welcome the opportunity to refute those allegations if there weren't true.

Next week will prove to be an interesting week in this saga. Stay tuned.

Mike Veon's Juror List Growing

Log into Tracie Mauriello Twitter Tweets about the Mike Veon Trial

Tracie Mauriello of the Post-Gazette in Pittsburgh is covering the progress made in the Mike Veon "Bonusgate" corruption trial. In this story she tell us that 10 jurors have been picked so far.

HARRISBURG -- Four more jurors were picked this morning for the government corruption trial of former Beaver County state Rep. Mike Veon and three former aides, bringing the total to 10.

Selection continues this afternoon with the goal of finding two more jurors and at least four alternates.

All four defendants are former high-ranking officials or employees of the House Democratic caucus.

Of the 10 jurors selected so far, only one is a registered Democrat.

The defendants are Mr. Veon, 53, and his former aides Stephen Keefer, 39, of Fredericksburg; Annamarie Perretta-Rosepink, 47, of Beaver Falls; and Brett Cott, 37, of Harrisburg.

All are charged with theft, conspiracy and conflict of interest. Mr. Veon faces a total of 56 counts, Mr. Keefer 16 counts, Ms. Perretta-Rosepink 22 and Mr. Cott 42.

The defendants also are accused of using state equipment and state employees' time for political work. They are charged with multiple counts of theft, conflict of interest and conspiracy for allegedly using $1.3 million in public money and state resources to run political campaigns between 2001 and 2006.

Testimony is expected to begin Feb. 1 in Dauphin County Common Pleas Court.

Opps eight minutes ago Tracie tweeted


pgpolitweets 11th juror selected is an LPN at Hershey Medical Center. She is the 2nd Democrat seated. #bonusgate 8 minutes ago reply

Keep in mind that Tweets are updated at will so even this post may be behind. Enjoy.