HARRISBURG — A district aide to state Rep. Bill DeWeese pleaded guilty in a public corruption investigation and agreed to testify against her boss Wednesday, five days before opening statements were scheduled in their criminal trial.

Sharon S. Rodavich, 56, pleaded guilty to one count each of conspiracy and conflict of interest, while four counts of theft were being dropped.

Rodavich said little during the brief proceeding but admitted to having helped DeWeese, a former speaker of the state House and Democratic floor leader, use public resources for campaign purposes.

She declined comment after the hearing, as did her lawyer, Tom Farrell, and state prosecutors.

The attorney general’s office has said Rodavich supervised DeWeese’s day-to-day campaign efforts in his southwestern Pennsylvania home base and rarely reported to the district office where she was assigned.

An investigative grand jury that looked into the allegations against the Democratic legislator said none of the legislative aides who testified before the panel were able to name any legislative work that Rodavich performed.

Prosecutors said Rodavich accrued hundreds of hours in sick leave, vacation time and personal leave, and amassed 2,800 hours of compensatory time between 1999 and 2007.

“Rodavich was supposedly attending many after-hour meetings and functions as an official representative of Rep. DeWeese,” the jury wrote in December 2009. “Much of the compensatory time accrued was allegedly the result of her attending these events. Investigators determined that Rodavich actually attended few of the meetings and functions where she claimed to be in attendance for legislative purposes.”

Rodavich faces a maximum possible sentence of 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine. Dauphin County Judge Todd Hoover tentatively scheduled sentencing for April 23.

DeWeese of Greene County has repeatedly denied the allegations against him and has vowed to put on an aggressive defense in the coming trial. Jury selection began Wednesday morning with two members of the panel being selected before lunch. The trial is expected to last some three weeks.

A spokesman for the House Democratic caucus said Wednesday that Rodavich, hired in 1991, has been suspended without pay or benefits from her $74,500-a-year job since her arrest, and that her status would be “updated” as a result of the guilty plea.

The attorney general’s office said the theft charges against Rodavich would be dropped when she is sentenced.