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Fumo's list of potential witnesses a VIP Who's Who

A list of potential witnesses for state Sen. Vince Fumo filed in federal district court yesterday reads like an insiders' guide to clout in Philadelphia over the past generation.

A list of potential witnesses for state Sen. Vince Fumo filed in federal district court yesterday reads like an insiders' guide to clout in Philadelphia over the past generation.

The list of almost 300 names includes not just political leaders and elected officials, but also many of the city's top lawyers, lobbyists, labor leaders, business executives and the government workers who wield enormous power behind the scenes, day after day.

Fumo, 65, is scheduled to stand trial on Sept. 8 on charges that he bilked taxpayers and two nonprofits to the tune of more than $2 million and then orchestrated a cover-up to try to thwart a federal investigation. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

An initial count of names on Fumo's witness list included the state's top elected leaders, Gov. Rendell and Lt. Gov. Catherine Baker Knoll; 10 senators from various parts of the state; five current and former members of the state House, including Speaker Dennis O'Brien and former Speaker Bob O'Donnell; 11 current and former judges from local, state and federal courts; U.S. Reps. Bob Brady and Chaka Fattah; and labor leaders Edward Coryell, Tom Cronin, Edward Keenan and Jerry Jordan.

Other elected and appointed officials included former mayor W. Wilson Goode, City Council President Anna Verna, Councilman Jim Kenney, former councilman Angel Ortiz and former police commissioner John Timoney.

Fumo also listed several suburban Republicans, including SEPTA board chairman Pasquale "Pat" Deon, state Sen. Robert Tomlinson and Montgomery County Commissioner Bruce Castor.

Castor said that he had been contacted recently by Fumo's lawyer, Dennis J. Cogan, who inquired about Fumo's son-in-law, Christian Marrone, who had worked both in Fumo's office and the Montgomery County D.A.'s office. Marrone was listed by federal prosecutors last week as a possible witness against Fumo.

From the business community, the list featured Comcast's executive vice president, David Cohen, and a strong group of politically active lawyers including Stephen Cozen, Salvatore DeBunda, Alan Kessler, Tom Leonard, Arthur Makadon and William Sasso.

Another potential witness is Mrs. Clifford Scott Green, the widow of the federal judge who overturned Fumo's 1980 conviction on mail-fraud charges for placing Democratic Party workers into no-show jobs on the legislative payroll.

Perhaps anticipating criticism of a legal settlement with Peco Energy that sent millions of Peco dollars to a Fumo-related charity, the Citizens Alliance for Better Neighborhoods, Fumo included former Peco chairman and chief executive officer Corbin McNeil and two consumer advocates on his witness list - the city's Lance Haver and the state's Irwin A. "Sonny" Popowski.

And the list included several media-related figures: radio personality Mary Mason; Philadelphia Gay News publisher Mark Segal; DJ Jerry Blavat; former Daily News editor Zachary Stalberg, now with the Committee of Seventy, and Laurada Byers, widow of Daily News columnist Russell Byers and the head of a Center City charter school.

Stalberg said he had "no personal knowledge" about the feds' case but had known Fumo well "for a very long time."

The list also included three individuals who also appear on the government's witness list: Harvey Levin, a member of the Board of Revision of Taxes; state Sen. Michael Stack, and Albert Mezzaroba, outgoing CEO of the Pennsylvania Convention Center Authority.

One other notable on Fumo's list is Mitchell Rubin, chairman of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission and husband of Fumo co-defendant Ruth Arnao. *