by KYW's Tony Hanson
Powerful Pennsylvania state senator Vincent Fumo has been indicted by a federal grand jury alleging he used his position and power to further his political and personal goals and live a lavish lifestyle.
Fumo allegedly defrauded the state senate, taxpayers, and others out of millions of dollars. US attorney Patrick Meehan says Fumo failed the people of Pennsylvania:
"The indictment charges that when acquiring big-ticket items, Fumo preferred using other people's money. Or to use the senator's own acronym, 'OPM.' There are dozens of other examples: shopping sprees, lawsuits againt political rivals, political polling. The indictment charges Citizens Alliance workers painted his properties -- not just with any paint, with paint that was 100 dollars a gallon."
The grand jury also alleges that Fumo used a Senate Appropriations investigator to spy on Fumo's former wife and girlfirends, the girlfriends' boyfriends, and political rivals.
Read the entire indictment (PDF file)
Fumo denies he has done anything illegal.
Until he is cleared, Fumo says, he will step down from his position as the minority chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee (see previous story).
(File photo: CBS-3)
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