Pa. Legislative Bonuses Defendants Arraigned

Three defendants accused of a criminal scheme to have Pennsylvania taxpayers underwrite political campaigns were brought in handcuffs Friday for arraignment by a Harrisburg district judge.

Bail for Mike Veon, Brett Cott and Stephen Keefer was set at $50,000 by District Judge Joseph S. Solomon. Veon declined to comment; neither Cott nor Keefer said a word to reporters. Court officials said a fourth defendant, Jeff Foreman, was arraigned on Thursday and his bail also was set at $50,000.

Eight people connected to the House of Representatives' Democratic caucus also were charged by the state attorney general on Thursday in a wide-ranging public corruption probe. The eight were expected to appear before Solomon later Friday morning.

Veon was the second-ranking Democrat in the House before losing re-election in 2006; Cott is a political strategist and former aide to Veon and House Majority Leader Bill DeWeese, D-Greene; Keefer is former director of information technologies for the House Democrats.

A grand jury concluded that legislative employees got taxpayer-funded bonuses for doing campaign work. The grand jury also found that state computers and equipment were commandeered for political campaigning and public contracts were issued for partisan purposes.

Rep. Sean Ramaley, a Democrat who represents parts of Beaver and Allegheny counties, was also accused in the case.

"Clearly this is a statute that requires a specific intent of him to deceive and defraud the taxpayers of the state, and we don't believe under any circumstances that the Commonwealth can meet that burden,” Ramaley's attorney told Channel 11 News on Thursday.

According to prosecutors, Ramaley used Veon’s public office to run his 2004 campaign.

The list of those indicted includes:

Mike Veon Sean Ramaley Michael Manzo, chief of staff for DeWeese Rachel Manzo Scott Brubaker Jennifer Brubaker Brett Cott, policy aide to DeWeese Jeff Foreman Annamarie Perretta-Rosepink Stephen Keefer Patrick Lavelle Earl Mosley