Jury Chair Comments on Veon Trial

The foreman of the jury that convicted former Beaver County State Representative Mike Veon of 14 counts says he saw him an accomplice "but the buck has to stop somewhere."
Gene Shutt says jurors had a sense of the historic nature of the case and at times felt overwhelmed by the volume of evidence. Shutt says the deliberations became "emotional" over the 7 days but "jurors remained civil." Shutt says at times he worried they would never reach a verdict and that intense discussions continued until just before they reached a verdict last night.
The jury convicted Veon of 14 of the 59 counts of theft, conspiracy and conflict of interest for using public money to conduct campaign work. Former staffer Stephen Keefer was cleared of all charges. However, former aides Annamarie Perretta-Rosepink and Brett Cott were convicted of five and three counts respectively.
Veon, Perretta-Rosepink and Cott will be sentenced May 21.