Aide cant detail talks with Veon

By Brad Bumsted TRIBUNE-REVIEW Friday, February 5, 2010

HARRISBURG -- A defense attorney Thursday attempted to pick apart the testimony of ex-Rep. Mike Veon's chief accuser, who claims Veon approved taxpayer-financed bonuses as an incentive to get legislative staffers to work on Democratic campaigns. Former top Democratic staffer Michael Manzo was unable to say when and where his conversations with Veon occurred from 2002-'06 under cross-examination by Veon's attorney Dan Raynak. Except for one conversation where another staffer might have been present, the others were one-on-one with Veon, Manzo testified. The fourth day of trial for Veon and three former aides was interrupted when Veon's lawyers sought a mistrial and accused prosecutors of unethical conduct involving Manzo's testimony. Dauphin County Common Pleas Judge Richard Lewis said prosecutors properly disclosed new information to the defense in January. Senior Deputy Attorney General Marc Costanzo dismissed the move as "more rhetoric" from the defense. Veon, 53, the former No. 2 Democratic leader, faces charges of theft, conspiracy and conflict of interest for allegedly overseeing a $1.4 million bonus program for campaign work and other state-paid activities to assist Democratic candidates. Three key aides are on trial, charged with using public resources for campaigns: Annamarie Peretta-Rosepink, 47, Veon's district office manager in Beaver Falls; Brett Cott, 37, a former policy aide in Harrisburg; and Stephen Keefer, 39, the former information technology director. Raynak repeatedly asked about Manzo's plea agreement to testify in return for prosecutors reducing 43 felonies to 10. Manzo said the amount of time he could spend in prison decreased from more than 300 years to possible probation. His wife, Rachel, charged in the same scheme, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor. "I'm not going to sit here and tell you lesser jail time isn't an incentive," Manzo said. When Raynak pressed for a "day ... week ... or season" in which he discussed bonuses with Veon, Manzo said: "I can make the claim because it's true, but I can't give you the date, time or season." Manzo returns to the witness stand today for cross-examination by other defense attorneys. "He has been entirely consistent with his direct testimony," Costanzo said. Joel Sansone, a Pittsburgh attorney representing Veon, raised the issue of mistrial as a "remedy" to whether prosecutors allowed Manzo to lie on the witness stand. Lewis explained to jurors the issue was "what Mr. Manzo knew, when he knew it and communicated it." He said the Attorney General's Office was required to disclose any new material to prosecutors. "To their credit, they did that," Lewis said.