Pa. corruption trial halted over witness's e-mails

PHILADELPHIA — The three-month-long federal corruption trial of a once-powerful former legislator screeched to a halt Monday when prosecutors announced that a key government witness has been e-mailing the defendant and posting blog notes about the case under pseudonyms.

The development came the very day that the witness, former Senate computer technician Leonard Luchko, had been expected to testify against former state Sen. Vincent Fumo. Prosecutors said they are now inclined to keep him off the stand.

Luchko, seen as a fiercely loyal former employee of the Philadelphia Democrat, has pleaded guilty in the case and had been expected to tell jurors that Fumo ordered him to destroy years' worth of e-mails because of an FBI probe.

Both sides asked for time to sift through the documents and reassess their trial strategies. U.S. District Judge Ronald L. Buckwalter told lawyers to return to court Tuesday afternoon.

Prosecutors could get some, but not all, of Luchko's likely testimony from Mark Eister, another computer technician who also pleaded guilty in the case.

Fumo sat stone-faced at the defense table Monday. The 65-year-old has pleaded not guilty to misusing more than $3.5 million from the state Senate, a South Philadelphia charity and a museum.

The government has only a few witnesses left to call, and the defense is expected to begin its case next week.

The Luchko e-mails and blog posts run to thousands of pages, although it was not clear how many were sent to Fumo. Prosecutors said they learned of the e-mails late Friday from Luchko's lawyer.

"He (Luchko) has been corresponding by e-mail with the defendants and with witnesses and with other former members of the Fumo staff, both before and after the trial, both before and after his guilty plea," Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Zauzmer said in court.

Defense lawyer Dennis Cogan said he had been in the dark about Luchko's correspondence until Saturday.

Luchko also posted comments under several aliases on blogs hosted by Philly.com, the Web site of Philadelphia's two large daily newspapers, Zauzmer said.

Luchko, 52, of Collingdale, awaits sentencing after pleading guilty in August to 29 felonies in the Fumo case — one count of conspiracy and 28 counts of obstruction. He was expected to testify for a full day or more against his former boss.

His lawyer, James C. Schwartzman, did not return phone and e-mail messages left Monday by The Associated Press. A home number listed for Luchko has been disconnected.

The new e-mails may contradict earlier evidence in the case and impeach Luchko's credibility, Cogan said.

"He's a serial e-mailer," Cogan said of Luchko. "If he has a thought, he puts it in an e-mail."

Fumo is accused of using the staff and assets of the Senate, charity and museum to do his personal and political work. Evidence against him includes e-mails written by Luchko in which the Senate technician voiced frustration — but also devotion — regarding his round-the-clock responsibilities for Fumo.

Luchko complained that his chores included driving people to get their hair done, wrapping 150 Fumo bobblehead dolls and wiring a yacht for Internet access.

Yet, he wrote, "I love my job and wouldn't trade it for any job in the Senate!"

A year later, he wrote in an e-mail recovered by authorities that the "Boss is driving us ALL nuts with this FBI madness."

Fumo, once the ranking Democrat on the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, left the Senate in 2008 after 30 years in office.

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