Former House Speaker DeWeese gets new sentence, files new appeal
HARRISBURG — Six years after his conviction, after he had already served nearly two years in prison and run out all but six days of his parole time, former House Speaker Bill DeWeese once again proclaimed his innocence.
“I still feel that I did nothing wrong,” DeWeese told a Dauphin County judge, whoon Wednesday reduced the restitution portion of his sentence on corruption charges. “I still feel that I am innocent.”
And now, DeWeese is hoping a federal court will grant him a new trial on the grounds that his constitutional rights were violated because he had ineffective counsel. Paperwork in that appeal was filed this week.
“It’s not the end of the journey,” said attorney Gaetan Alfano, who is representing DeWeese in the appeals phase.
A jury in 2012 convicted the Greene County lawmaker of theft, conspiracy and conflict of interest after multiple people testified that employees in his district office did campaign work on government time between 2001 and 2006, the later years while he was leading the House Democratic caucus.
DeWeese, 68, of Waynesburg, has long said that he was prevented from presenting witnesses who would have contradicted some of that testimony. But he also at one point told a grand jury that he knew some of his staffers were fundraising or being recruited to do campaign work on government time.
A judge initially sentenced him to 2.5 to 5 years in prison, plus ordered him to pay a $25,000 fine and more than $100,000 in restitution, to reimburse the state for time lost while employees were doing campaign work.
DeWeese was in court Wednesday because the Superior Court ordered him to be resentenced after questions arose in multiple corruptions cases over whether the state could be considered a victim in criminal cases.
DeWeese, in a black suit, addressed Dauphin County Common Pleas Judge William Tully with the same bravado and flowery language that were staples of his time presiding over the House floor.
“Why did I go into the grand jury?” he asked rhetorically. “I went in because I felt that I had done nothing wrong.”
He ran through a list of people who told him that he had been railroaded or didn’t belong in prison. He said he felt his sentence was “disproportionate,” saying that others who had been convicted of similar crimes received lesser sentences.
Brian Zarallo, who spoke on behalf of the attorney general’s office, was taken aback. DeWeese, he said, refuses “to accept responsibility in any way, shape or form” for his actions, which were “in essence, a genuine betrayal of democracy.”
The attorney general’s office, which prosecuted the case, argued that DeWeese was required by law to pay the six-figure restitution to reimburse taxpayers. That figure, they said, was calculated conservatively based on the amount of time House employees spent working for the campaign on government time.
Mr. Alfano argued that DeWeese’s conviction would block him from receiving his pension, valued at $3 million or more over the course of his lifetime. DeWeese, he said, has “modest resources as a career public servant” and would struggle to pay the full restitution as well.
Judge Tully ultimately decided to keep the $25,000 fine in place but remove the restitution portion of the sentence, saying he felt that was far lower than the amount the state saved by keeping DeWeese’s pension. Forcing DeWeese to pay restitution as well would not have any “rehabilitative” value, the judge said.
And then, he addressed DeWeese directly. “I can tell this still gets your blood pressure up,” Judge Tully said, as he cautioned the former lawmaker to protect his health. “Your debt to society has been paid.”