Pa. appellate court denies motion for consolidation filed by imprisoned former state rep.

The Pennsylvania Superior Court has denied an application for consolidation that had

been filed by a convicted and imprisoned former state representative appealing his punishment.

In a one-sentence order issued Dec. 27, the appellate court denied a motion by Mike Veon to consolidate his appeal with that of the appeal of AnnaMarie Perretta-Rosepink.

Veon, a former Democratic State House Majority Whip from Beaver County in southeastern Pennsylvania, was sentenced to up to 14 years in state prison following a public corruption conviction this past summer.

He had been charged along with a number of other former state lawmakers in a state Attorney General’s investigation that came to be known as “Bonusgate,” which referenced the bonuses that were given to staff members in return for their doing political work for the legislators.

On Dec. 26, Veon’s lawyers filed court papers asking appellate judges to consolidate their client’s appeal with that of Perretta-Rosepink’s appeal.

Perretta-Rosepink, once Veon’s top aide, received a sentence of nine months of house arrest for her conspiring with her boss to misuse state funds in connection with the “Bonusgate” scandal.

Veon’s attorneys wrote in their motion to consolidate that the two appeals involve identical issues.

The Superior Court’s denial of the application came in the form of a one-sentence per curiam order, and did not include an explanation for the decision.