Citizens' Alliance spent $600,000 to refurbish and furnish Fumo's legislative office in South Philadelphia. The charity owned the building housing the legislative office but collected only $18,000 a year in rent for it.

The indictment says the charity's money was also tapped for shopping sprees. Fumo and Arnao would meet at Sam's Club, Home Depot and Lowe's outlets near Atlantic City to "stock up on thousands of dollars of goods for their summer residences."

Grand jurors said the pair used Citizens' Alliance credit cards for such purchases as $3,900 in mosquito magnets and a $450 meat grinder destined for use on the Harrisburg-area farm.

The indictment said a charity minivan was regularly driven by Senate employees to Martha's Vineyard to be used by Fumo, Arnao and their friends on summer vacations. His Senate drivers did Fumo's personal shopping, drove his daughter to school, and regularly delivered packages.

And Fumo, who held no official title with the nonprofit, allegedly received a $55,000 SUV for his use.

Though he is one of only five state senators from Philadelphia, Fumo has long had an outsize impact on policy in the Capitol and in Philadelphia.

He is renowned and at times feared for his smarts, his mastery of the art of the deal, his network of appointees and allies, and his ability to build effective political coalitions.

Yesterday's indictment marks the third time Fumo has been criminally charged.

In 1973, five years before he became a senator, he was arrested on charges of voter intimidation, but the charges were quickly withdrawn.

In 1980, a federal jury convicted him of putting "ghost" employees on the state payroll, but a judge threw out the conviction.

Fumo has promised a vigorous fight to clear his name one more time.

"If there is anyone who has shown the capabilities of overcoming legal and ethical challenges, it's Vince Fumo," said Chris Borick, a professor of politics at Muhlenberg College.

"But I can see no obvious way that he can come out from under this one. From a political sense, these are some really deep scars that have been inflicted upon him."

Mayor Street said Fumo would "remain an influential force for Philadelphia," even though Fumo has stepped down from his key post as minority chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

"My thoughts and concerns now are with Sen. Fumo and his family," Street said in a statement.

Founded in 1991 by Arnao and two others with ties to Fumo, Citizens' Alliance has helped charter schools, rehabbed storefronts in South Philadelphia, televised the Mummers, and helped fight AIDS.

Though the probe that resulted in yesterday's indictment began in 2003, investigators started focusing on Citizens' Alliance in 2004 after The Inquirer reported that Peco had secretly agreed to give the charity $17 million and reduce its rates as part of a legal settlement with Fumo, who had opposed the utility's business plans.

The paper also disclosed that Fumo had arranged for the Delaware River Port Authority to give $10 million to Citizens' Alliance. The port authority is largely funded through bridge tolls and the PATCO commuter train.

Citizens' Alliance also has received more than $4 million in state and other government grants.