HARRISBURG - After calling two dozen witnesses over three days, the defense in the corruption trial of former State Rep. Mike Veon rested today without Veon or his three codefendants taking the stand.

"I don't think we needed to have anyone testify. I think we made a very clear case," said Dan Ranyak, one of Veon's lawyers. "The jury heard enough facts. They heard enough evidence. . . . Not guilty. It's as simple as that."

Lawyers for Veon's former aides Brett Cott, Steve Keefer and Annamarie Perretta-Rosepink also attributed a weak government case for their decision to not put their clients on the stand.

"The evidence against him is very, very slim," said Bill Fetteroff, Keefer's attorney.

The four are charged with carrying out a scheme to award $1.4 million in government bonuses to legislative staffers as rewards for working on political campaigns on state time between 2004 and 2006.

Closing arguments in the case that gave the Bonusgate scandal its name are expected to begin tomorrow after the prosecution, which spent five weeks putting on its case, presents possible rebuttal witness.

Outside the courtroom after the defense rested, Ranyak lashed out at Attorney General Tom Corbett, who is running for the Republican gubernatorial nomination.

"It's a political prosecution to try and get Tom Corbett elected governor," said Ranyak. "This is a political prosecution, really a political persecution."

Veon, a Beaver County Democrat who was defeated in 2006 after 22 years in the House, had planned to offer such an argument in court, but Dauphin County Court Judge Richard A. Lewis prohibited evidence about such "selective prosecution."

Instead, the defense focused its case on presenting a series of legislative aides who testified that they received bonuses but believed they were awarded for the good jobs they did on legitimate government work, not for campaigning.

Others spoke of Veon's unmatched integrity and how he devoted his life to the people he represented.

Julie Jarbeck Walko, a former aide, was among the final defense witnesses to testify. She told the jury that Veon's district office in Beaver Falls was among the busiest of any state lawmaker's.

On average, 100 people came through the doors each day and aides had to field just as many phone calls from constituents in need of help.

"The culture of that office was you were there to help the community," said Walko, the wife of Don Walko, an Allegheny County Court judge and a former legislator. That culture, she added, began at the top - with Veon.

Earlier in the day, a pastor who was born and raised in Beaver County testified that Veon was "a good man."

"We look toward Mike for his honesty and his integrity," said the Rev. Edward Eugene Williams.

During a break in the trial, Veon gave Williams, his longtime friend, a bear hug.

As he has throughout the six weeks of the trial, Veon, 53, looked more like a legislator than a criminal defendant fighting to stay out of jail. Today, his salt-and-pepper hair was slicked back and he wore a double-breasted charcoal suit, complete with cuff links and a pocket square.

Also taking the stand today was a state legislator who testified that he played in regular pickup basketball games with Veon, not only as a way to stay in shape but also to learn from a seasoned politician.

"It was one way to get a one-on-one with the guy who was making the decisions for the caucus," said Rep. Marc Gergely (D., Allegheny), who was elected to the state House in 2002.

In addition to the bonus scheme, Veon is accused of spending nearly $16,000 in state funds on "basketball dinners" for himself and other legislators who played in regular Tuesday games at a local community college gym.

Echoing earlier testimony from other former and sitting legislators, Gergely said the dinners were more about discussing legislation that eating. At the dinners, held in Veon's Capitol office, legislators ate Chinese and Indian food and drank occasional beers.

They also played cards, mostly spades, for minor stakes.

"I don't know if I broke the law," Gergely said, "but it was $5 a game."

The only outstanding matter for the defense involves whether it can introduce as evidence an interview that former Democratic Leader Bill DeWeese (D., Greene) gave a Pittsburgh TV station in which he said he did not delegate the duties of the bonus program to Veon.

DeWeese, who was charged by Corbett separately in December with campaign-related theft counts, on Tuesday invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and did not testify as a defense witness.

Previously, DeWeese has said that knew nothing about the bonuses until the scandal broke in early 2007.

Veon's lawyers have gone to great strides over the six weeks of the trial to paint DeWeese - not their client - as the man in charge of the bonus scheme at the heart of the Bonusgate allegations.

Lewis is expected to rule tomorrow whether Veon's lawyers can use that TV interview as part of their defense.