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DeWeese seeks appeal to clear name

By Patty Yauger, For The Greene County Messenger 4 min read
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Bill DeWeese

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Bill DeWeese

Former state House Speaker H. William “Bill” DeWeese may have served his time in prison on a variety of campaign-related charges, but he remains adamant that he was not guilty of those charges and has begun a personal campaign to clear his name of any wrongdoing.

Six months after departing the northwestern Pennsylvania state prison where he was incarcerated for about two years, the longtime Democratic lawmaker from Greene County wants a new trial, during which he wants to call 17 witnesses who weren’t permitted to take the stand at his first trial.

DeWeese, now 64, was convicted by a Dauphin County jury in 2012 on charges of conflict of interest, theft of services, theft by deception, theft by failure to make required disposition of funds and criminal conspiracy stemming from incidents taking place between 2001 and 2006. He was sentenced to 30 to 60 months in jail and ordered to pay $116,669 in restitution. In August 2013, the Superior Court rejected the appeal and upheld DeWeese’s conviction.

Although convicted, through the Post Conviction Relief Act (PCRA), DeWeese is seeking a new trial.

Because the new matter is now in litigation, DeWeese said he is restricted from commenting on the case.

However, a person familiar with the case agreed to discuss the matter on condition of anonymity.

The appeal was filed with the Dauphin County Court last month.

In the appeal, DeWeese states that his trial attorney, William C. Costopoulos, did not effectively represent him. His current attorneys – attorneys Gaetan J. Alfano and Edward H. Skipton – claim that Costopoulos failed to call other witnesses that could refute the testimony given by several people, including key prosecution witness Kevin Sidella.

Sidella served on DeWeese’s staff as a research analyst.

According to the unidentified source, while DeWeese spent time behind bars, he does not harbor any ill-will toward those that aided the state in having him incarcerated.

“He doesn’t have any enmity for those that testified against him,” said the source, adding that several of the witnesses were considered close friends by DeWeese. “He credits his sense of humor and equanimity for allowing him to put the past behind him.

“He’s even been at social gatherings (following his incarceration) with some of them.”

The charges against DeWeese grew out of the “Bonusgate” scandal, where elected officials were directing staffers to do campaign work on company time, and paying them bonuses for it.

In addition to DeWeese, former House Majority Whip Mike Veon, another western Pennsylvania Democrat and former Republican House Speaker John Perzel were among the top level officials to be named in the scandal.

By mid-2008, the grand jury had charged 12 people, including Veon, with setting up the distribution of the illegal bonuses.

Members of the House GOP were also called in by the grand jury for using a tax-funded computer system for campaign purposes.

While he had been on the periphery of the “Bonusgate” scandal for more than a year, in late 2008 an ex-DeWeese aide agreed to cooperate in the investigation and testified that his boss was well aware of the payouts.

In late 2009, DeWeese, his longtime staffer, Sharon Rodavich, and former Rep. Steve Stetler of York, who was then serving in the Rendell administration as the state revenue secretary, were charged with misdirecting state resources.

DeWeese has always adamantly denied the allegations.

The unidentified source said that DeWeese felt assured throughout the 2012 trial that he would be found not guilty by the jury, confident that the dozens of people who told his lawyer DeWeese told aides and staffers not to do campaign work on state time would appear before — and sway — the jury.

The PCRA appeal claims the trial judge deemed the unheard witnesses as character witnesses for DeWeese. However, they were witnesses that would offer testimony, “embracing a variety of circumstances over many years, (that) would not only have corroborated the testimony of (DeWeese and) other defense witnesses – it also would have contradicted or directly impeached the testimony (of prosecution witnesses) on this central issue,” said Alfano and Skipton in court documents.

Dauphin County Common Pleas Court President Judge Todd A. Hoover, who sentenced DeWeese in the first trial, is now reviewing the appeal request.

If Hoover denies the appeal, DeWeese can go to the state Superior Court.

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