HARRISBURG — The corruption trial of state Rep. Bill DeWeese shifted toward the jury Wednesday after the former House Democratic leader provided three hours of often spirited testimony and lawyers for both sides made their closing arguments.

Dauphin County President Judge Todd Hoover told the jurors that they would begin their deliberations today, which will be the eighth day of the trial.

Lead prosecutor Ken Brown said DeWeese was at the top of “a criminal pyramid” and conspired with a handful of top aides to force staff members to do campaign work involuntarily as a condition of their jobs. He urged the jury to convict DeWeese on all charges — four counts of theft and one each of conspiracy and conflict of interest.

If involuntary campaign work was required as part of the job, “then it really doesn’t matter if they’re on leave, does it?” asked Brown, a senior deputy attorney general.

DeWeese acknowledged some employees in his district office had made such a claim, but told Brown it was only after prosecutors “beat them with the proverbial rubber hose” as part of a broader investigation into alleged corruption in the Legislature.

“I never required people to do campaign work,” he said. “I never bullied or forced anybody to do campaign work.”

William Costopoulos, DeWeese’s lawyer, said his client is innocent.

“He has a big heart. He trusts too much. He might delegate too much, but he did not commit these felonious crimes,” he said.

DeWeese, 61, the trial’s final witness, spent more than three hours on the stand, fielding gentle questions from Costopoulos and sparring with Brown over details. DeWeese said he delegated responsibility “every day, all day” for the hundreds of staff members in the House Democratic caucus in Harrisburg and at his district office in southwestern Pennsylvania.

He said he did not realize many staff members were not filing paperwork to document time off they used for political work until the state attorney general’s office launched its investigation in early 2007. The inquiry came in the wake of news reports suggesting legislative staffers were receiving taxpayers-financed bonuses for campaign work.

Mike Manzo, DeWeese’s former chief of staff, and Kevin Sidella, a legislative aide who mainly handled DeWeese’s political fundraising, both testified for the prosecution and said the involvement of legislative employees in political campaigns had been rampant in the years leading up to the investigation.