Prosecution closes, likens Veon probe to organized crime
By The Associated Press
HARRISBURG — A state prosecutor this morning wrapped up the case against a former General Assembly power broker and three of his one-time legislative aides by attacking the defense case and urging jurors to focus on witness testimony and evidence rather than argument and what he called distractions. "Why, of all of the people in the House, of all of the people in the world, why would we pick them?" said Senior Deputy Attorney General Patrick Blessington. "Well, for obvious reasons — because that's where the evidence pointed." Former state Rep. Mike Veon, D-Beaver, is on trial with former senior aides Steve Keefer, Annamarie Perretta-Rosepink and Brett Cott. They face charges of theft, conspiracy and conflict of interest in what prosecutors say was the diversion of taxpayer resources for campaigns and other improper purposes. Blessington responded to defense attacks on witnesses who had been granted immunity, calling the three-year investigation "a political corruption case that took the form of organized crime." He noted many of them were former Veon aides or people who, like the other defendants, held elite jobs in the House Democratic caucus. "We didn't pick these people, they did," Blessington said, adding the defendants "decided to work day-by-day" beside the witnesses defense lawyers have attacked. Defense attorneys made their closing arguments in the six-week-old trial Thursday. After Blessington finishes the judge will issue jury instructions and then deliberations will begin.
