DeWeese got tangled in the same Bonusgate net that has caught many minnows and one leviathan, former House Speaker John Perzel.
Perzel spent three decades in Harrisburg, amassing the muscle to remake the 172d District in his image and snatch the Philadelphia Parking Authority from the city. In August, he admitted hatching the plan to use computer programs - paid for by the public - to engineer campaign wins for the GOP.
"I know now I committed a crime," Perzel told the jury, insisting he had willing help. "Everyone crossed the line."
How the mighty tumbled
Perzel awaits sentencing and faces up to 24 years behind bars. Meanwhile, in Trenton, former State Sen. Wayne Bryant finds himself temporarily sprung from the federal pokey and back in a familiar courtroom.
I can't think of another time a politician imprisoned on one set of corruption charges stood trial for other offenses, but this is New Jersey. It has probably happened before.
Bryant, who once described pocketing public paychecks as "living the American dream," earned his inmate number for using a low-show university job to pad his pension. He's now accused of no-show lawyering, accepting $192,000 from a developer seeking only his vote on billion-dollar projects.
So to recap, four of the most powerful men in two states could soon be prison pen pals - more if you count convicted officials of lesser stature. And still, we hear silence on electoral reforms like public campaign financing or term limits.
Have politicians been scared straight by watching the mighty fall? Or did reformers just give up?
Washing hands of clean?
