Former state rep. freed from jail
After serving nearly two years in state prison on charges of political corruption, former state Rep. Bill DeWeese was released from prison Sunday.
The Yellow Jacket reported in April 2012 that DeWeese received a 2 ?- to five-year sentence after he was convicted of three counts of theft and one count each of conspiracy and conflict of interest for using public employees and taxpayer dollars for political reasons.
According to the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole, DeWeese was eligible for parole because a first-time, nonviolent offender must serve only 75 percent of his or her minimum sentence. He is still under restrictions until his full prison sentence expires in 2017.
As reported in the Yellow Jacket in 2012, DeWeese faced six charges as the result of a 2007 investigation conducted by the state Attorney General’s Office. He was charged with five of those six counts, fined $25,000 and nearly $117,000 in restitution after his conviction by a Dauphin County jury in April 2012.
Even as a convicted felon, DeWeese ran unopposed in the 2012 Democratic Primary.
DeWeese served as a member of the state House of Representatives for 35 years before his prison sentence began.