Former DeWeese aide sentenced
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – A former aide to longtime state Rep. Bill DeWeese was sentenced Monday to five years’ probation in a legislative corruption case that also resulted in DeWeese’s felony conviction, which will force him from the Legislature even as he runs for another term.
A Dauphin County judge also ordered Sharon Rodavich to pay $35,000 restitution and a $5,000 fine and to work 750 hours of community service.
Rodavich worked in DeWeese’s legislative office in his southwestern Pennsylvania district. She testified against the Greene County lawmaker at his trial that it was common for his taxpayer-paid staff to perform campaign work on state time.
Rodavich, 56, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and conflict of interest as part of a plea agreement that dropped four counts of theft.
DeWeese, 62, who spent much of his 35-year tenure in the House as Democratic leader and served a stint as House speaker, has said he plans to step down from the Legislature before he is sentenced Tuesday on corruption charges involving the illegal use of state resources for political campaigns.
A jury convicted DeWeese in February. The state constitution bars felons from serving in the General Assembly, but that ban is not triggered until the sentence is imposed.
Pennsylvania’s primary election is also Tuesday, and DeWeese is on the ballot as a candidate for the legislature that will be sworn in next year.
He is unopposed in the primary, all but guaranteeing that he will become the Democratic nominee, and – regardless of the legal developments – his name will stay on the ballot through the general election unless he withdraws it by the Aug. 13 deadline. If DeWeese wins, he could not be seated unless an appellate court overturns his conviction before lawmakers take their oath in January.
DeWeese, a legislative maverick known best for his grandiloquent floor speeches, was the only sitting legislator to stand trial in a five-year state corruption investigation that resulted in 25 arrests of people connected to the House Democratic and Republican caucuses.