Fumo Back in the Hot Seat

Former State Sen. Vincent Fumo is back in the hot seat today.

There could be fireworks in federal court when Fumo is cross-examined by a federal prosecutor who, with colleagues and the FBI, has been investigating him for five years.
  
Much of the case revolves around Fumo's alleged personal use of resources that belonged to the state, the charity and a maritime museum, from heavy equipment and yacht trips to free labor and laptop computers.

Federal prosecutors want to use testimony that a Philadelphia power broker gave decades ago as evidence against him in his current trial. 

In court yesterday, the Democrat was asked about pressuring Peco energy to give his charity a $17 million dollar secret gift.

Fumo says he used the money to pay for two charter schools, bikes for city cops and redevelopment on Passyunk avenue.

Federal prosecutors say Fumo took more than a million dollars in gifts and benefits from the charity.

According to Fumo the Peco gift was kept secret only so that other groups and lawmakers did not pester Peco for similar funding.

Local

Breaking news and the stories that matter to your neighborhood.

Deadly crash closes Black Horse Pike in Atlantic County

Pa. House advances measure to prohibit ‘ghost guns'

Fumo, the long-powerful Philadelphia Democrat, told jurors he remains proud of the electricity deregulation deal he brokered with Peco Energy in the late 1990s, which spawned the gift but also rate cuts and a decade-long rate freeze.
 
Vincent Fumo's 1980 trial resulted in a conviction in a ghost-worker scheme.

The conviction was later overturned.
 

Contact Us