HARRISBURG -- Prosecutors want former state Rep. Mike Veon to sit in jail until he's at least 65.

In a sentencing memorandum filed Tuesday in Dauphin County Common Pleas Court, they asked for a 12- to 17-year sentence for Mr. Veon, 53, who they said "presided over a vast criminal enterprise specifically designed to utilize as many public resources as possible in pursuit of his political and campaign ambitions."

In a separate filing, they asked for 19 to 24 months imprisonment for Annamarie Perretta-Rosepink, who ran Mr. Veon's district office in Beaver Falls.

Both were found guilty of using public resources to run political campaigns. At the core of the case was a scheme to award more than $1.5 million in taxpayer-funded bonuses to state employees who worked on political campaigns.

Once the second-ranking Democrat in the state House, Mr. Veon was found guilty in March of 14 counts. Mrs. Perretta-Rosepink was found guilty of five.

Sentencing is scheduled for Friday before Dauphin County Judge Richard A. Lewis.

In court filings, prosecutors Frank Fina and Patrick Blessington said Mr. Veon was the leader of an effort to use illicit public bonuses to entice hundreds of state employees to work on campaigns.

They called him a "remorseless, defiant and repeat offender who is apparently incapable of contrition."

Veon attorney Dan Raynak declined to comment Tuesday.

In a filing Tuesday, Michael O. Palermo, attorney for Mrs. Perretta-Rosepink, asked for probation, electronic monitoring at home or incarceration in a county jail with release so his client can help care for her gravely ill stepfather.

He said Mrs. Perretta-Rosepink, 43, is a first-time offender who "realizes what happened was her own fault and wrongdoing" and is not likely to commit more crimes.

"This was not a crime of violence," Mr. Palermo wrote. "There was no loss of life. The commonwealth, as a victim, lost the labor of its employees on an intermittent basis, and the public has undoubtedly lost some of that sacred trust ... in a democratic society."

Mr. Fina and Mr. Blessington, though, wrote that the harm to democracy and the electoral process was significant, and that Mrs. Perretta-Rosepink "aggressively utilized public resources" for political campaigns.

"The evidence demonstrates that defendant Perretta-Rosepink never hesitated to employ public resources on behalf of ... Veon's retention or expansion of political power," they wrote. "While arranging elaborate fundraisers or door-to-door campaigning, defendant Peretta-Rosepink never paused in the criminal employment of public resources on behalf of the campaign efforts of Team Veon."

Meanwhile, a third Bonusgate defendant was back in court Tuesday asking for a reduction in the 21- to 60-month prision sentence he began serving in May. Escorted by sheriff's deputies, Brett Cott wore handcuffs attached to a chain around his waist while he conferred with attorney Bryan Walk.

In a brief argument, Mr. Walk said the sentence is excessive for a defendant with no criminal record.

He said Judge Lewis should have considered the sentiment of jurors who had asked for leniency, but agreed that sentencing is the court's responsibility, not jurors'.

Two jurors recently wrote letters to the court saying Mr. Cott's sentence is too stiff.

"To act as if these crimes were just minor modest and barely reaching the standard of culpability is insensitive and improper," Mr. Fina said.

Mr. Walk disagreed. He accused Judge Lewis of improperly considering evidence of crimes for which Mr. Cott was acquitted.

Judge Lewis is expected to rule next week on whether to amend the sentence.

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