PA Divorce Buyout in Pennsylvania

A grand jury in Pennsylvania has reportedly indicted state Rep. Bill DeWeese, the Majority Leader of the Pennsylvania General Assembly.

Move it or lose it. That was the message from two powerful Philadelphia lawmakers to the Foxwoods and SugarHouse casinos last night.

A request came from lawyer for the Rev. Joseph Sica

Some news reporters subpoenaed over alleged leaks from a grand jury investigation of Mount Airy Casino Resort owner Louis DeNaples said Thursday that they were contacted by people who wanted to confirm their cell phone numbers or names.

At least some of those calls were made by an aide to state Sen. Robert Mellow, D-Lackawanna, the Senate minority leader. At least two others came from someone who pretended to work for a Pittsburgh newspaper.

WILKES-BARRE - Luzerne County Judge Ann Lokuta's latest bid to have misconduct charges against her dismissed was denied Thursday by the state Court of Judicial Discipline.

Judge Lokuta had asked the court, which is considering sanctions against her, to dismiss the charges or reopen the case because of a recently revealed financial relationship between a key prosecution witness, county Senior Judge Michael T. Conahan, and the chairman of the state board that filed the charges, and local auto parts executive Patrick Judge Sr.

July 7- Jury selection will begin July 7 for the trial of state Sen. Robert Regola III on charges he committed perjury and violated gun laws.

July 10- Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board Meeting

July 11- Possibility of an "EXPLOSION" of indictments in the Bonusgate scandal before this date.

July 22- Daniel Daidone pleaded guilty to violating the terms of his supervised release from prison by associating with convicted felons.He is due to be sentanced on July 22. His illegal contacts surfaced during a multistate FBI financial fraud investigation that has targeted FirstPlus Financial Group, a Texas company with alleged ties to Salvatore Pelullo, an Elkins Park businessman with two fraud convictions, and mobster Nicodemo S. Scarfo according the Philadelphia Inquirer. The chief of staff for Pennsylvania State Sen. Michael Stack, Joseph D. Steward, had been a board member of FirstPlus Financial Group. He stepped down after the investigation became public. Senator Stack is a member the Senate Judiciary and Law & Justice committees.

August 2- Judge Hoover has an Aug. 2 deadline to make a report to the state Supreme Court about whether a special prosecutor should be appointed to investigate the leaks in the Denaples Grand Jury.

September 8- State Senator Vince Fumo's trial on 139 federal charges of public corruption starts.

November 4- Election Day- The first election of lawmakers since the 2006 PACleanSweep Election. Many lawmakers were defeated for reelection in that election.

THE LARGEST full-time legislature in America is set to stampede out of Harrisburg for its annual summer break - leaving, as usual, a bunch of good ideas trampled underfoot.

The owner of a Harrisburg-based Internet broadcast news site testified Tuesday before a judge examining whether the secrecy of a grand jury investigation was violated.

Louis Pagnotti III, 53, of 220 Wyoming Ave., pleaded guilty to perjury in December and was in court Monday for sentencing.

"I recognize my actions were wrong, and I take responsibility for them," he told U.S. District Judge Thomas I. Vanaskie.

HARRISBURG - A rare judicial hearing into whether media leaks undermined the secrecy of the grand jury probe of Mount Airy Casino Resort owner Louis A. DeNaples got under way Monday in Dauphin County court.

The hearing is an outgrowth of the Dauphin County grand jury report in January that led to perjury charges against Mr. DeNaples, of Dunmore, and the Rev. Joseph F. Sica, of Scranton.

Here we are on the last day of June in the sixth year of Gov. Ed Rendell's administration and the third, and dissipating, year of reform.

A Dauphin County judge today convened a hearing ordered by the state Supreme Court on whether grand jury secrecy rules were violated during the investigation of casino owner Louis DeNaples.

SCRANTON -- A West Pittston, Luzurne County man will serve 20 months in prison for lying to a grand jury investigating a money laundering scam that involved a reputed mob boss and a drug dealer.

Louis Pagnotti III, 53, of 220 Wyoming Ave., pleaded guilty to perjury in December. He went before U.S. District Judge Thomas I. Vanaskie this morning for sentencing.

Both Mr. Pagnotti and Frank Pavlico, 37, of Clarks Summit, were indicted in 2005 after the IRS began investigating suspicious activity in Mr. Pavlico's bank accounts.

Mike Veon undone by the things he went to Harrisburg to change

In the Beaver Valley, where broken steel towns strain to recapture their glory days, Mike Veon walked as an icon of political benevolence, dispensing grants, arranging jobs, proving that, half a state away in Harrisburg, Western Pennsylvania still held awesome powers.

The conventional wisdom at the Capitol is that Republican Attorney General Tom Corbett must charge Republicans as well as Democrats for his investigation of legislative bonuses to have credibility.

Attorney General Tom Corbett's investigation into legislative operations reached a new first on Friday: A House Republican caucus staffer appeared before the grand jury.

HARRISBURG - A Dauphin County judge has ordered that a hearing Monday to gather evidence about alleged leaks during the grand jury probe of Mount Airy Casino Resort owner Louis A. DeNaples be closed to the public.

Judge Todd A. Hoover issued the order Friday to keep proceedings in county court behind closed doors as preparations were made for an evidence-gathering hearing that will delve into issues regarding the secrecy of grand juries and First Amendment rights for journalists. The length of the hearing is uncertain.