HARRISBURG -- Closing arguments are expected today and Friday in the criminal trial of former state Rep. Mike Veon and three former aides.

Fifty-two witnesses testified during the six-week trial, including two sitting lawmakers, one former lawmaker and dozens of House Democratic staffers.

Those called by the prosecution described a powerful campaign operation run out of legislative offices in Harrisburg and Beaver Falls using state employees, public computers and millions of tax dollars.

Witnesses called by the defense, though, said virtually all the campaign work they saw was performed after regular working hours and outside state offices.

None of the defendants testified.

After court Wednesday, defense attorneys said the prosecution made such a poor case that there was no need for their clients to take the stand.

William Fetterhoff, attorney for Stephen Keefer, said "there was no substantial evidence for him to rebut. ... The evidence against him was very, very slim."

Mr. Keefer is former director of information technology for the House Democratic caucus.

Along with Mr. Veon and former legislative aides Brett Cott and Annamarie Perretta-Rosepink, he is charged with theft, conspiracy and conflict of interest. The four are accused of scheming to use taxpayer dollars to run political campaigns.

At the core of the case are allegations that they distributed taxpayer-funded bonuses to staffers as rewards for campaign work.

The defense agrees that there had been such a scheme, but they say their clients had no part in it.

Mrs. Perretta-Rosepink managed Mr. Veon's district office in Beaver Falls, where Capitol staffers testified they were sent to work on campaigns. But her attorney, Michael Palermo, says she had no authority to send anyone anywhere. It was Mr. Veon's Capitol chief of staff, Jeff Foreman, who sent them, Mr. Palermo said.

"They knew when they left the Capitol where they were going. They were going to campaign. They didn't need Annamarie Perretta-Rosepink to tell them to campaign," he said after court Wednesday.

Mr. Foreman also was charged in the case and entered a guilty plea as part of an agreement to cooperate with prosecutors.

Meanwhile, attorney Bryan Walk allowed that his client, Mr. Cott, did do campaign work on state time but that it was too minor to warrant criminal charges.

"Was there [campaign-related] e-mail sent on state time? Yes, just like everybody else uses the state e-mail system for fantasy football or whatever," Mr. Walk said. "This staff worked so hard and so long that all of these minor infractions are what we would call de minimis."

Some of the most compelling testimony in the case came from former top aide Mike Manzo, who spent six days on the witness stand. He testified that he and Mr. Veon created the bonus scheme.

Mr. Manzo was charged in the case and entered a guilty plea as part of an agreement with prosecutors.

Veon attorney Dan Raynak said the only damaging testimony in the case has come from witnesses who have plea agreements and immunity deals.

"It's been established that there were people that were doing some improper things at the Capitol, and what the prosecution did was reward them by giving them incredibly favorable treatment," Mr. Raynak said.

Senior Deputy Attorney General E. Marc Costanzo said he is confident that the prosecution made its case and that the jury will find each defendant guilty.

Outside the courtroom, Mr. Raynak has continually said that the prosecution is motivated by a desire to grab headlines that will propel their boss, Republican Attorney General Tom Corbett, into the governor's office.

"I don't think there's any question about that," he said. "This was a political prosecution, really a political persecution."

That's an argument he can't make in the courtroom, though. Dauphin County Richard Lewis ruled he cannot make statements about it in front of the jury of eight women and four men who will decide the defendants' fate.

If found guilty, the defendants could be jailed for years.

Mr. Veon was charged with 59 counts; Mr. Cott was charged with 42; Mrs. Perretta-Rosepink was charged with 22; and Mr. Keefer was charged with 16.

The case could be in jurors' hands by the end of the day Friday.

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