Pa. Senator Indicted on 139 Counts (Democrat)

Feb 6, 2007

PHILADELPHIA — State Sen. Vincent J. Fumo, one of the most powerful figures in Pennsylvania politics, was indicted Tuesday on 139 counts, including federal charges of mail fraud, wire fraud and use of Senate employees as campaign aides.

Many of the charges stem from Fumo's ties to a nonprofit agency in his South Philadelphia district.

Authorities had been investigating the Citizens' Alliance for Better Neighborhoods for more than four years. The group was started by Fumo aides in 1991 to serve the neighborhood where he grew up.

The indictment, which runs more than 200 pages, also charges the group's longtime executive director, Ruth Arnao, and it names two ex-Senate staffers. The two former staff members already had been charged with obstructing the investigation by deleting years worth of e-mail about Fumo's ties to the charity.

Fumo, anticipating the indictment on Monday, temporarily stepped down as the ranking Democrat on the appropriations committee but remains in the Senate.

The Philadelphia Democrat, who has beaten two previous indictments, vowed to clear his name.

"I know in my heart that I have not done anything illegal," Fumo, a 63-year-old lawyer and banker, said Monday.

http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2007Feb06/0,4670,PaCorruption,00.html