PITTSBURGH — A jury is expected early this week to begin deliberating in the fraud trial of celebrity pathologist Cyril Wecht — and even if his lawyers have succeeded in convincing the panel the bulk of the charges are picayune, his career remains in jeopardy.

Wecht is charged in a 41-count federal indictment with using his former Allegheny County coroner's staff and resources to help him with his lucrative practice as an expert witness in dozens of high-profile cases over the years.

Given that Wecht still makes a living as an expert witness, a conviction on any of the charges could damage his reputation and effectively end the 76-year-old doctor's career in the courtroom.

"From Dr. Wecht's point of view, he can't be convicted on even a single count," said Bruce Ledewitz, a Duquesne University criminal law professor and longtime friend of Wecht's.

Closing arguments are set for this morning.

The government called 44 witnesses during the seven-week trial; the defense did not put on any. Ledewitz said they are swinging for a home run, hoping to see him cleared of all charges.

"If their position is that the entire case is a bunch of nothing, you can't start rebutting individual aspects of it," he said. Not calling defense witnesses "says to the jury, 'We really believe there's nothing to this case."'

Federal prosecutors say Wecht used his government staff and resources to run errands and do other work to benefit his private practice before he was indicted and resigned as coroner in early 2006.

Wecht has earned millions doing autopsies for hire and as an expert witness. He's also a famous author, TV pundit and public speaker on high-profile cases in which he was involved, including the deaths of Elvis Presley, JonBenet Ramsey and Claus von Bulow.

Wecht is also accused of cheating some private clients with phony limousine bills and other bogus travel expenses. Finally, he faces the macabre allegation that he traded as many as 16 unclaimed county morgue cadavers for laboratory space at a Pittsburgh university in recent years.

Wecht's attorneys have argued the indictment is a laundry list of administrative peccadilloes, not federal crimes.

While questioning one witness, defense attorney Mark Rush noted that 27 of the 41 counts involve faxes or mailings that cost the county a total of $3.96.

Prosecutors, on the other hand, want the jury to focus on the thousands of dollars Wecht earned through those private invoices or other correspondence sent by county secretaries on county time.

"I don't for one minute doubt that he was very fast and loose about administrative directives," Ledewitz said. "Having the deputies make trips for him, having the secretary do public and private work is not a crime, necessarily. None of it is a good idea, and I'm not defending it ... but that's a matter for the county commissioners to call him in and say, 'That's not the way we want the office to run."'