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Monday, March 16th, 2009 at 11:36 am - by Matt Campbell. Filed under: Courts.
Guilty!
The Philadelphia Inquirer’s live blogger Robert Moran reports that Vince Fumo has been found guilty on all counts.
The 65-year-old Philadelphia Democrat was charged with defrauding the senate, a nonprofit and a museum of more than $3.5 million, and destroying e-mail evidence.
The verdict came after a five-month trial that began Oct. 22 and featured more than 100 witnesses and 1,300 exhibits.
See original charges in the Federal Indictment (pdf)
A hearing for the former Pennsylvania State Senator is scheduled for 2 p.m. this afternoon reportedly to consider whether Fumo should be required to wear an electronic monitoring bracelet while out on bail.
(3:44pm update) The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that Fumo can remain free on bail, which has been set for $2 million dollars. In addition, Fumo must stay withing the boundaries of the Eastern Pennsylvania Judicial District, which encompasses 9 counties.
Fumo is not allowed to leave this area
Co-defendant Ruth Arnao were also found guilty of conspiracy to defraud Citizens’ Alliance.
Oh fyi: The judge ruled earlier this morning on the defense filing asking for a juror to be removed for posting jury deliberation updates on the internet sites Twitter and Facebook.
So what do you think? Are you surprised by this verdict?
Related link:
Susan Phillips reports on the reaction of several Fumo jurors
March 16th, 2009 at 11:55 am
Is it too late to change my prediction? Hopefully I’ll do a better job picking my NCAA pool.
March 16th, 2009 at 7:47 pm
Ah, what good news. The moral of the story: Never trust a guy whose name means “smoke.”