HARRISBURG — A former legislative power broker and his one-time aide should stand trial on corruption charges, a judge ruled Friday after more than seven hours of testimony and legal wrangling.

Harrisburg District Judge William Wenner's ruling represented a reversal from a preliminary hearing in May, when another judge dismissed the charges for lack of evidence, and a serious setback for Michael Veon, the former Democratic House whip, and co-defendant Annamarie Perretta-Rosepink.

Prosecutors refiled most of the charges within days after the first judge's ruling.

The state attorney general's office alleges the pair illegally diverted millions of taxpayer dollars through a nonprofit Veon controlled — the Beaver Initiative for Growth — to hire consultants who did little or no work, rented office space the nonprofit hardly used and performed political and legislative tasks.

Veon's lawyer asserted prosecutors presented no new evidence since the first hearing and that Friday's hearing revealed new inconsistencies likely to weaken the case when it goes to trial.

"Mr. Veon is never going to be found guilty," predicted the lawyer, Dan Raynak of Phoenix, Ariz.

Anthony Krastek, a senior deputy attorney general who is the lead prosecutor in the case, said the state prevailed Friday because the judge applied a lower legal standard of evidence than the first judge, Harrisburg District Judge John Solomon, who recused himself from the case when prosecutors refiled most of the charges.

"The proper standard for a preliminary hearing was utilized today," Krastek said.

Veon and Perretta-Rosepink also are among a dozen people connected to the House Democrats who were charged last summer with illegally using taxpayer money and state employees for political activity. That separate case is currently scheduled to go to trial in January.

In the Beaver Initiative for Growth case, they are charged with theft, misapplication of entrusted property, conflicts of interest and conspiracy.