DeWeese invokes Fifth Amendment rights

HARRISBURG - State Rep. Bill DeWeese, the former House Majority Leader, invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination this morning in a private meeting with the judge presiding over the corruption trial of his onetime legislative colleague Mike Veon.

Lawyers for Veon had subpoenaed DeWeese as a defense witness and had planned to call him to the stand this week.

But this morning, before the court session started, DeWeese was seen entering the Dauphin County Courthouse just blocks from the Capitol. Sources confirmed that DeWeese cited his Fifth Amendment rights in Judge Richard A. Lewis' chambers.

DeWeese (D., Greene) was charged separately by Attorney General Tom Corbett's office in December for allegedly using state resources for campaign purposes. But those charges do not deal specifically with the bonus allegations at the heart of the case against Veon, now in its sixth week.

Veon's attorneys, however, have painted DeWeese, who has served in the House for three decades, including a two-year stint as speaker in the 1990s, as the man behind the state-cash-for-campaigning scheme.

In an interview during the lunch break today, Joel Sansone, one of Veon's lawers, hit this theme again, saying the fact that DeWeese cited his Fifth Amendment rights "speaks volumes, as far as I'm concerned, about his criminal conduct."

This afternoon DeWeese confirmed that he did take the Fifth and referred comment to his attorney William Costopoulos.

In a statement, Costopoulos said, "Rep. Bill DeWeese is not on trial. This is not his fight."

DeWeese has repeatedly denied having known about the bonus system and said he only learned of it after news of the scandal broke in 2007 and the attorney general began the investigation that came to be known as Bonusgate.

DeWeese has said he delegated administrative duties such as the bonus program to his aides.

Veon's lawyers are still hoping to call several other current House Democrats to the stand in coming days, including Rep. Todd Eachus of Luzerne County, who replaced DeWeese as majority leader.

Veon, a former Beaver County legislator, and three former top aides are charged with theft and related counts for allegedly awarding $1.4 million in government bonuses to legislative aides as rewards for working on political campaigns on state time.