Some people have labeled the indictment or conviction of state officials as a sad day for Pennsylvania. But, viewed another way, the recent conviction of former state Sen. Vincent Fumo and the ongoing Bonusgate investigation in Harrisburg should be characterized as good days — if they help clean up state government. And they will lead to better days if the initial investigations lead to evidence of further corruption and malfeasance that is, in turn, also prosecuted.

The jury in the federal corruption trial of Fumo found the former state lawmaker guilty on all 139 counts of corruption, defrauding a charity, obstruction of justice and other charges.

And over the course of the Fumo investigation and trial, new paths of apparent corruption were revealed. At the post-conviction hearing in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia last week, an FBIagent handed a "target letter" to Mitchell Rubin, the then-chairman of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission. The letter let Rubin know that he could face criminal charges.

In the days since then, Rubin was removed from his Turnpike Commission post by Gov. Ed Rendell.

Testimony in the Fumo trial revealed that Rubin, along with several other Fumo friends, was hired by Fumo as a consultant. But according to federal investigators, Rubin did no work for the $150,000 state contract.

It was Rubin's wife, Ruth Arnao, who was charged as Fumo's co-conspirator in the federal trial. Arnao, a former top aide to Fumo, had more recently worked as the head of his pet charity, the Citizens' Alliance for Better Neighborhoods.She was found guilty of all charges against her.

And while federal investigators are pursuing leads linked to various aspects of what became known as "Fumo's world," the state Attorney General's Office continues its work on various paths of corruption revealed in the Bonusgate investigation

As a reminder, 12 people have thus far been charged in that investigation, and former state Rep. Mike Veon,D-Beaver, awaits trial for his role as an alleged ringmaster of Bonusgate, in which nearly $4 million was paid in year-end bonuses to legislative staffers for campaign-related work, most of it for House Democrats.

The problem facing House Demo-crats, and possibly others, is that it is illegal to use taxpayers' funds or state employees for campaign or re-election work.

And related to the Bonusgate investigation is the role, if any, of House Democratic Leader Bill DeWeese. The Greene County lawmaker denies any knowledge of the extraordinary bonuses, which were as large as $20,000, but e-mails and testimony by others in the investigation suggest otherwise.

In almost all cases, there is a recurring theme:arrogant and self-serving politicians feeling entitled to use other people's money (taxpayers')for their personal or political benefit.

Last week's conviction of Fumo, once considered the most powerful politician in Philadelphia or Harrisburg, was the result of a massive four-year investigation sparked, in part, by newspaper reports in the Philadelphia Inquirer about Fumo's extraction of a $17 million donation from PECO (Philadelphia Electric Co.) for Fumo's Citizens' Alliance nonprofit group. The trial revealed that he routinely had that organization pay for thousands of dollars worth of items for his personal benefit.

As the investigation peeled back the layers of Fumo's world, it also revealed no-work, and no-bid, state contracts that Fumo used to reward friends and political cronies, or to put people to work for him using other people's money, again meaning taxpayers'.

Rubin was one of those benefiting from a no-work contract. And there could be others to be investigated.

And if the federal investigation winds up looking into the workings of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, there is a good chance it will find evidence of more no-bid, no-work contracts. And even if the patronage jobs for which the Turnpike Commission is famous are not illegal, the political fallout of such an investigation could finally force a cleanup of the commission, or its merging into the state Department of Transportation, as suggested by at least one state lawmaker.

And yesterday's announcement by state Attorney General Tom Corbett that Veon also will be facing charges of misusing public funds through his abuse of a self-created and self-directed nonprofit, called the Beaver Initiative for Growth (BIG), is another positive development in uprooting the culture of corruption that has flourished in Harrisburg for far too long.

The conviction of Fumo and the prospect of prosecutions of Mitchell Rubin and others on the receiving end of no-work state contracts can be seen as more good days for Pennsylvania. And the ongoing and expanding Bonusgate investigation, as well as prosecution of Veon for misusing taxpayer dollars through BIG, will bring additional good news to Pennsylvanians if it results in the convictions of more corrupt politicians using their offices — and taxpayer dollars — to benefit themselves financially or politically.