Ramaley acquitted in corruption trial
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Former state Rep. Sean Ramaley
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HARRISBURG -- In the first of the criminal trials growing out of a three-year corruption investigation, a jury acquitted former state Rep. Sean Ramaley on six counts accusing him of being a ghost employee on the state payroll.
Jurors deliberated less than three hours before finding the former legislator not guilty on all counts, which included theft, conflict of interest and conspiracy.
A statewide grand jury had alleged that Mr. Ramaley accepted a no-work job on the staff of then-Democratic Whip Mike Veon so he could collect a paycheck while running for his first term. Witness testimony conflicted on whether Mr. Ramaley performed legislative work during the six-month period in 2004 when he worked out of Mr. Veon's district offices.
Mr. Ramaley, 34, of Baden, showed little emotion during four days of testimony, but his lip quivered as the verdict was read yesterday.
His wife, Stephie-Anna Ramaley, meanwhile, burst into joyful tears and leaned into the arms of her father, who was seated next to her in the front row. His mother, Christine Ramaley, who at points during the trial fingered a strand of rosary beads, also cried and clutched her husband, Arthur. At least two members of the defense team were in tears, too.
Mr. Ramaley, who did not testify in his own defense, emerged from the courtroom triumphant. "Vindicated," he told reporters outside the courtroom.
"I did work. I did my job. I worked as hard as I could," he said of his time in Mr. Veon's district office.
His defense team brought in a parade of character witnesses, including a priest and a police chief. The defense also called former co-workers, who testified that they trained Mr. Ramaley on office equipment and occasionally saw him help constituents.
Prosecutor Anthony Krastek, during closing arguments, downplayed that work.
"Was this simply a sham job for Sean Ramaley?" Mr. Krastek asked jurors. "Did the work he did amount to incidental things? Work by accident?"
Jurors apparently didn't think so.
Most left the Dauphin County Courthouse immediately after the verdict and others declined to comment.
Lead defense attorney Philip Ignelzi of Pittsburgh said he always believed he could secure a not-guilty verdict if a fair jury were seated.
During closing arguments that spanned more than an hour yesterday, he persuaded jurors that the prosecution "failed miserably in meeting its heavy burden of proof."
He had described Mr. Ramaley as a rising star of the Democratic party whose career was cut short after criminal charges were filed against him. Mr. Ramaley had intended to run for state Senate last year but withdrew after his arrest.
Ken Snyder, a Democratic political strategist who was the media consultant for Mr. Ramaley in his 2008 state Senate race, said, "I am not surprised by the outcome. I am not saying that all the Bonusgate cases are without merit, but this one was brazenly political and designed to knock out the Democratic nominee for the only competitive state Senate race in Pennsylvania at the time."
Mr. Ramaley won a May 2008 Senate primary but was arrested by state Attorney General Tom Corbett in July 2008. His support dropped by 20 percentage points after the arrest and he left the campaign. The Senate seat was won by a Republican.
"These charges destroyed his political career. Please do not allow these charges to ruin the man's life," Mr. Ignelzi told jurors during closing arguments.
He said little after court adjourned. Instead, he insisted it was Mr. Ramaley's moment and pushed him toward a gaggle of reporters with video cameras.
"I've got to thank God, faith, family and friends," Mr. Ramaley said. "I've been really humbled by the people that stuck by me."
Mr. Krastek said the verdict would not have an implication on 11 other Democrats who still have cases. Five are working on plea agreements and six, including Mr. Veon, are scheduled for trial Jan. 19.
"The rest of the cases have many different facets," Mr. Krastek said. "It's difficult [to prove a case] when you just take one actor out from the rest."
Prosecutors wanted to try Mr. Ramaley along with the other defendants, but Mr. Ignelzi persuaded Judge Richard A. Lewis to sever his client's case from the others. Unlike Mr. Ramaley, the others are accused in an elaborate scheme to distribute millions of dollars of taxpayer-funded bonuses to staffers as payment for work on campaigns.
Some of the defendants in the wider case have said they believe Mr. Corbett filed charges against them to further his gubernatorial aspirations.
Joel S. Sansone, the Pittsburgh lawyer who is co-counsel for Mr. Veon, said he wasn't surprised by the not-guilty verdict because he regarded the case as weak.
In a phone interview, he said that the Ramaley case "is plainly a litmus test of the government's case in all the prosecutions" in the so-called Bonusgate scandal.
"We have said from the very beginning that this is a political prosecution designed to make Tom Corbett the next governor," Mr. Sansone said. "Hopefully the taxpayers and voters will take into account this shameless, self-serving action on the part of the putative governor. We expect the same result in all these baseless prosecutions."
First Published December 11, 2009 12:00 am
