John Perzel: I am not seeking deal in corruption case
Former state House speaker John Perzel this morning said he is not considering a deal in the criminal case due to come to trial in Harrisburg next month. Perzel seemed surprised to hear news from Harrisburg this morning that three of his co-defendants are set to enter guilty pleas and cooperate with prosecutors.
John Perzel: I am not seeking deal in corruption case
Chris Brennan
Former state House Speaker John Perzel this morning said he is not considering a deal in the criminal case due to come to trial in Harrisburg next month. Perzel seemed surprised to hear news from Harrisburg this morning that three of his co-defendants are set to enter guilty pleas and cooperate with prosecutors.
Those three are Samuel "Buzz" Stokes, brother of Perzel's wife, Paul Towhey, his former chief of staff, and Don McClintock, who ran his campaign office. The Associated Press this morning said that officials from the state Attorney General's Office had announced that the three men have agreed to plead guilty to felony counts and assist in the prosecution of their co-defendants, including Perzel.
Asked if he was disappointed in the deals, especially from his brother-in-law, Perzel paused for a long moment before noting that Stokes is 69 years old and that legal representation is expensive. Asked about the other men, Perzel replied: "I don't know. You have to ask them."
Perzel was accused in November 2009 of illegally using $10 million in state funds to coordinate political campaigns. He faces 82 counts of conspiracy, theft and conflict of interest in the Republican side of a long-running investigation known in Harrisburg as "Bonusgate."
A Dauphin County judge on July 25 denied a motion from Perzel and his co-defendants to dismiss all charges. The accused had claimed the Attorney General's Office of misconduct because some notes of witness interviews were destroyed while other legal materials were slow to be released to defense attorneys.
Perzel in November lost his bid for re-election for Northeast Philadelphia's 172nd Legislative District, which he held for three decades. That district includes parts of Mayfair, Tacony, Fox Chase, Bustleton, Rhawnhurst and Lexington Park.
He will, now that 3 buddies have rolled over.— jimmymack- I'm not a crook !!!— Milton J.Fozzmore
- Perzel may have crossed the line of political and campaigning, but where do you draw that line? If on the campaign trail someone notes a problem that needs attention and he has his office work on resolving, is that a crime? In all stories, he falls far short to treading in footsteps of Democrats Fumo, Myers, Schwartz, Mariano, Cinfrani, Beloff, Tayoun, etc. Senator Mellow took the pension and ran, others are still sitting. Waste of taxpayer money, for sure!— phillygrlinfl
Comment removed.- His surprise was that the other defendents got a deal before he did.— BobSG
- The Republicans owe Pennsylvania Taxpayers $20,000,000.
http://www.attorneygeneral.gov/uploadedFiles/Press/GJ-Presentment_No2_page1-63.pdf
Attorney General Presentment John Perzel and 9 other Republicans Page One “This presentment will disclose that a vast array of public expenditures, exceeding twenty million dollars, were spent between 2000 and 2007 by the House Republican Caucus on: programs that began with a legislative use and ended with a campaign use; programs that were designed to serve both legislative and political campaign purposes; and, programs that had the singular purpose of employing public resources on behalf of political campaigns.”— bobguzzardi
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David Gambacorta spent a small eternity writing about cops, drug dealers and serial killers. Now he’s writing about power and politics – which sometimes reminds him of the old crime beat. He joined the Daily News in 2005. And yes, he knows you’re not quite sure how to pronounce his last name. E-mail tips to gambacd@phillynews.com
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Jan Ransom, a native New Yorker, joined the Daily News in 2010 after graduating from Howard University. She has since written about the difficulty of filing police complaints, tax deadbeats and life after violent home invasions. She joined the Daily News City Hall Bureau in 2011 and has plunged headfirst into reporting on administration budget battles and City Council shenanigans. E-mail tips to ransomj@phillynews.com
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Sean Collins Walsh is from Bucks County and went to Northwestern University. He joined the Daily News copy desk in 2012 and now covers the Nutter administration. Before that, he interned at papers including The New York Times, The Dallas Morning News and The Seattle Times. E-mail tips to walshSE@phillynews.com
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