PHILADELPHIA — A former top aide to convicted Pennsylvania lawmaker Vincent Fumo was charged Wednesday with taking $287,000 for no-work Senate contracts.

Fumo, who began serving a four-year prison term weeks ago, steered the $150-an-hour consulting contracts to S. Michael Palermo in exchange for personal favors and friendship, federal prosecutors charged.

Palermo helped run Fumo's farm near Harrisburg, and Fumo sometimes stayed with Palermo in the area, prosecutors said.

Palermo, 69, of Philadelphia was charged in a federal information with conspiring with Fumo to commit mail fraud.

Palermo once served as chief of staff at Fumo's district office in Philadelphia. The powerful Democrat awarded him Senate Democratic Appropriations Committee contracts from 1999 to 2004 that netted Palermo $45,000 to $66,000 a year. The contracts involved consulting on transportation issues, but authorities found no evidence he did any work.

Longtime Fumo aide Ruth Arnao was convicted at trial with Fumo and is serving a one-year prison term.