June 24, 2010

Deterrence in Veon sentence?

The substantial sentence imposed Friday on one of the state Legislature's chief power brokers
emphasized not only the seriousness of his abuse of power but the disconnect between too many
Pennsylvania politicians and the people they represent.

Michael Veon, former House Democratic whip, was sentenced to six to 14 years in state prison
for his role in stealing $1.4 million from taxpayers to give bonuses to House staffers for their
campaign work.

"These offenses involved a clear and dramatic violation of the public trust. There was a flagrant
abuse of power ... citizens of this commonwealth were defrauded and systematically cheated,"
declared Dauphin County Judge Richard Lewis, as he issued the sentence.

The most remarkable thing about Veon's conduct, and the alleged conduct of other powerful
lawmakers who have been charged in the ongoing "Bonusgate" investigation, is that the abuse of
power occurred well after prosecutors fired a shot across their pirate ship's bow.

Former Rep. Jeffrey Habay was convicted in 2005 of forcing his publicly paid office staff to do
campaign work. In the wake of the case, Veon and, allegedly, former House Speakers H.
William DeWeese and John Perzel, continued similar but more sophisticated practices on a much
broader scale.

Even after Veon's arrest, state Sen. Jane Orie of Allegheny County allegedly pressed her publicly
paid legislative staff into campaign service for her sister, Joan Orie Melvin, who ran for and won
a state Supreme Court seat last year.

Jane Orie has been charged in Allegheny County.

The three-year investigation leading to Veon's prosecution required all of the resources that the
state attorney general's office could muster, when mandatory transparency is all that is needed to
prevent conduct like Veon's.

Yet, even as Bonusgate slogs on, lawmakers who have not been arrested have not moved
aggressively to establish that transparency.

What will it take? Perhaps, now that Veon must trade in his trademark chalk-striped suits for a
prison jumpsuit, his former colleagues will mandate transparency. But given their failure to do so
after Habay's conviction, it's possible that they are incapable of learning.