Computer tech involved in Fumo corruption case expected to plead guilty

A former computer technician charged with conspiracy and obstruction of justice in state Sen. Vince Fumo's federal corruption case has agreed to plead guilty.

Leonard P. Luchko, 52, of Collingdale, is expected to enter a guilty plea in federal district court Monday.

Notice of the plea change was posted on the court docket yesterday by U.S. District Judge William H. Yohn Jr.'s office.

Yohn is presiding over the case.

It's not clear what Luchko will plead guilty to, and whether or not he is cooperating with the feds and will testify against Fumo.

Prosecutors generally don't reveal details of plea agreements until the plea is actually taken.

Assistant U.S. Attorney John Pease declined comment yesterday.

Luchko's attorney, James C. Schwartzman, was unavailable for comment.

Fumo's lawyer, Dennis J. Cogan, declined comment.

Lawyers for co-defendants Ruth Arnao and Mark Eister could not be reached for comment.

Luchko was indicted by a federal grand jury in February 2007 on one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice and 28 counts of obstruction.

Authorities said that Luchko - at Fumo's behest - conspired to destroy e-mails and other evidence stored on computers in Fumo's offices in Harrisburg and his district office on Tasker Street, as well as the computers of the Citizens Alliance for Better Neighborhoods Inc., a nonprofit linked to Fumo.

Authorities said that the destruction of e-mails and other electronic evidence began in November 2003, shortly after the senator and others learned that a federal investigation of Fumo was under way.

Luchko worked for Senate Democratic Computer Services and was assigned to Fumo's Tasker Street office, where he worked full-time to assist Fumo and his staff.

Fumo; Eister, who also was a former Senate computer aide; and Arnao, a former top aide to Fumo and one-time executive director of Citizens Alliance, have pleaded not guilty in the case and are scheduled for trial next month.

The indictment alleged that Luchko:

* Systematically destroyed e-mails sent to or received from Fumo and Arnao stored on computer equipment in Fumo's and Citizens Alliance's offices;

* Deleted and wiped computers and BlackBerries used by Fumo and others to erase any trace of deleted electronic files;

* Instructed Fumo's employees not to save any e-mail to and from Fumo without the senator's permission;

* Logged into e-mail accounts of Fumo staffers to make sure that they weren't saving any e-mails related to Fumo. *