HARRISBURG — Five defendants in the Pennsylvania legislative bonus investigation have signed guilty plea agreements that outline how dozens of charges will be dropped in the corruption case expected to go to trial in the coming months.

The documents, first reported by a Pittsburgh newspaper, were among the material prosecutors recently handed over to defendants during the pretrial discovery process.

Those five defendants and seven others, all of them connected to the House Democratic caucus, were charged more than a year ago with theft, conflict of interest and conspiracy in what prosecutors said was a scheme to divert public resources and employees to do campaign work or for other improper purposes.

The agreement for Michael Manzo, a former chief of staff to then-Majority Leader Bill DeWeese, calls for him to plead guilty to conspiracy, three counts of theft and six counts of conflict of interest. Manzo had been facing 47 counts.

Jeff Foreman, once one of the highest-ranking lawyers on the House Democratic payroll, plans to plead guilty to four felonies — conflict of interest, conspiracy and two counts of theft by failure to make required disposition of funds received. He had been charged with 24 counts.

Scott Brubaker, a former staffing and administration supervisor, would plead guilty to four charges, down from 22. His wife, Jennifer Brubaker, who once ran the caucus' research office, is getting her charges reduced to conspiracy and three counts of conflict of interest, down from 17.

Patrick "P.J." Lavelle, a lower-level legislative aide, was given a deal to plead guilty to criminal conspiracy and conflict of interest, and have four other charges dropped.

The attorney general's office began what has become a wide-ranging investigation into possible legislative corruption after The Patriot-News of Harrisburg disclosed in January 2007 that millions in bonuses had been secretly handed out to employees of the Legislature.