HARRISBURG -- Bob Caton said he often campaigned on state time and was directed to do so by his former boss Mike Veon, then the No. 2 Democrat in the state House.

Mr. Veon is on trial along with three former legislative aides. All are accused of scheming to use public resources to run political campaigns.

Mr. Caton is the 14th witness to testify in their criminal trial and the first to say Mr. Veon directly told him to campaign on the clock.

He testified that he had no written proof and couldn't remember specific dates of the conversations, which he said occurred on numerous occasions.

Mr. Caton, who is testifying under a grant of immunity, said he believed he committed crimes by campaigning on state time, in state buildings and on state equipment.

Mr. Veon's attorney, Dan Raynak, suggested the cost to taxpayers for that work was minimal. He suggested -- and Mr. Caton agreed -- that he did enough legislative work outside regular hours to compensate for the time he spent on campaign work.

Mr. Caton's official job was to be Mr. Veon's press secretary, but he testified that he spent a lot of time composing text for political mailings, digging up dirt on political foes, campaigning door-to-door, attending fundraisers and challenging signatures on third-party candidates' nominating petitions.

For his efforts, he believes he was given several bonuses.

The first arrived in 2004, a few days after another staffer called him to ask how many days he had worked on a campaign. He had worked five days and received a $500 check.

"When I saw the check and saw the amount, I thought, 'Wow. That's pretty transparent,' " Mr. Caton testified yesterday in Dauphin County Common Pleas Court.

He discussed the bonus with several co-workers who had received similar checks.

He said they all expressed "a little bit of shock that it would be so directly blatant, a cost per day."

Mr. Caton said all of Mr. Veon's staffers worked on campaigns. He said staffers didn't use vacation days and didn't ask supervisors' permission to leave work to campaign.

"I let them know, but it wasn't permission. It was assumed you would be going out [to campaign]. Everybody was," Mr. Caton said.

Taxpayers picked up the tab for hotel stays, meals and mileage on campaign trips, he said.

To justify the expenditures, staffers would look for small legislative tasks to do, Mr. Caton testified. One common way to justify campaign trips was to bring a box of copy paper to Mr. Veon's Beaver Falls office. Mr. Caton and other staffers would then spend the rest of the trip campaigning, sometimes for days at a time, according to testimony.

Also yesterday, Judge Richard Lewis reprimanded attorneys for rude, obstructive and obnoxious behavior in the courtroom. He threatened to fine them or even imprison them for contempt if they continued bickering with each other, shouting at witnesses and glaring at jurors while witnesses were answering questions.

He blamed the behavior for slowing the pace of the trial, which is in its fourth week.

Mr. Caton is expected back on the stand this morning.

Looking for more from the Post-Gazette? Join PG+, our members-only web site. You'll get exclusive sports content, opinion, financial information, discounts from retailers and restaurants, and more. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.