Pennsylvania residents have had three days to digest the implications of the six- to 14-year prison sentence meted out Friday to former Beaver County state Rep. Mike Veon for his role in the Bonusgate scandal.

It should be seen as a stern wake-up call to a General Assembly that has in recent years concerned itself more with politics, partisanship and sleazy legislative dealings than with carrying out the people's business.

Perhaps the foundation now is in place for that to change.

As further fallout emerges from the sordid Bonusgate episode, it is to be hoped that more penalties like Veon's jail time will follow. In addition to the prison sentence, which Dauphin County Court Judge Richard Lewis ordered to begin immediately, Veon also was directed to pay $37,000 in fines and $100,000 in restitution.

While the Veon prison sentence is much less severe than the 12- to 17-year sentence recommended by prosecutors, it is nonetheless significant that a man who once was the second-ranking Democrat in the state House is — based on his conviction in March — where he ought to be.

Considering the information that has emerged from the Bonusgate grand jury probe, many state residents no doubt are thinking that others should join him.

Veon's conviction was on 14 counts of theft, conspiracy and confict of interest, mostly involving use of public resources for campaigning and other purposes.

Also on Friday, a former Veon aide, Annamarie Perretta-Rosepink, was sentenced to serve three to six months in prison and pay $25,000 in restitution for her role in Bonusgate.

In a sentencing memorandum prosecutors filed Tuesday, they said Veon had "presided over a vast criminal enterprise specifically designed to utilize as many public resources as possible in pursuit of his political and campaign ambitions."

They called him a "remorseless, defiant and repeat offender who is apparently incapable of contrition."

It's clear that Veon, during his years in the state capital, became obsessed with the power that he wielded, apparently grasping at some point the notion that he could do no wrong — at least nothing for which he ever could be found guilty.

He has learned otherwise.

No doubt Veon is bitter that a former Democratic state Senate leader, Vincent Fumo, who reported to a minimum-security federal prison camp Aug. 31, received only a 55-month prison sentence for misappropriating millions from the state and two nonprofits. A jury found he used their coffers to — among many other things — clean his mansion, charter yachts, and spy on an ex-girlfriend and political foes.

Fumo's sentencing judge, U.S. District Judge Ronald Buckwalter, gave Fumo a break in terms of prison time, noting what he termed the years of extraordinary public service Fumo had rendered to his constituents and the state. Buckwalter ignored prosecutors' request for a 15-year prison term.

But, at the same time, Buckwalter scolded voters of Fumo's district for returning him to Harrisburg despite the allegations against him.

"I'm afraid voters may have succumbed to the repugnant adage, 'Our senator may be a crook, but he's our crook.' "

Residents of Veon's district, to their credit, rejected him at the polls prior to his indictment.

Veon is the first of five current or former lawmakers in the Bonusgate probe to be convicted. He was one of 25 people arrested in the case since the probe began in 2007, amid news that millions of dollars in bonuses — using other people's money — were quietly handed out to legislative employees for illegal campaign-related work.

Veon's conviction should spark renewed voter interest in pressing the Legislature to do the job it was elected to do, not be consumed by enriching its members' current and future lives.

The Pennsylvania General Assembly is broken and must be fixed, no matter how extensive the housecleaning required.

During his years in Harrisburg, Veon was regarded as a sharp dresser with a cocky style. That cockiness fit well with a general arrogance in Harrisburg, but gave way Friday to reality.

Regarding Fumo, Assistant U.S. Attorney John Pease said, "He didn't need to steal. He stole because he could, because he was drunk with power."

Likewise, Veon didn't need to jeopardize his legislative legacy by participating in an illegal scheme, but he too allowed power to intoxicate him and now he will have plenty of time to sober up.

People of Pennsylvania need to think long and hard about what the Veon sentence means and what has happened to their state government. They've ignored the evolving mess much too long and thus, as unwilling as they might be to admit it, they're a big part of the problem that exists — and why Bonusgate was able to happen.