Fumo loyalists clash with prosecutors

A pair of fervent allies of former State Sen. Vincent J. Fumo tangled bitterly with prosecutors yesterday as they defended their work with the powerful Democrat.

One of Fumo's taxpayer-paid drivers - he had three - accused prosecutors of "disrespect" for interviewing him not long after his son had died of a brain aneurysm at age 26.

And the director of a Fumo-backed nonprofit bristled when prosecutors said that a Fumo aide had deleted e-mails on her computer even after her records had been subpoenaed.

As the defense yesterday opened the second week of its presentation, anticipation grew for the roll-out of its high-profile witnesses: Fumo himself could take the stand at any point, and Gov. Rendell has been scheduled to testify next week.

During his testimony yesterday, David Nelson said Fumo was almost like a father to him during his 15 years as one of Fumo's chauffeurs.

Under questioning from NiaLena Caravasos, a member of Fumo's defense team, Nelson said he often worked 50 to 60 hours a week. Of that time, he told the jury, perhaps five hours were devoted to Fumo's personal needs.

With such testimony, the defense is seeking to rebut the part of Fumo's indictment that charges him with defrauding the Senate by using his staff as personal servants or political operatives.

The defense argument is that each Fumo legislative staff member worked at least the 371/2 hours a week required of them to do the people's business and that the personal labors for Fumo were in addition to their public service.

Nelson acknowledged that his personal chores for Fumo included driving Fumo's daughter for visitations with her father, taking Fumo's shirts to be laundered, doing his banking, and picking up his prescriptions.

When Fumo flew up for his annual summer vacation on Martha's Vineyard, Nelson and other aides would drive cars laden with luggage to the island. But this driving, too, was work-related, Nelson suggested, because he also brought the senator's desktop computer, his laptop, a printer, and a fax machine.

"The senator doesn't know how to relax," Nelson said.

Assistant U.S. Attorney John J. Pease suggested that Nelson had exaggerated his workload, pointing out that he was one of three drivers and that Fumo needed no driver during the many days a year he spent vacationing in Florida and elsewhere. Prosecutors say a close study of Fumo's schedule between 2001 and early 2004 showed that he spent 268 days at vacation spots - almost a quarter of the calendar.

Aside from driving, Nelson said, he stocked the district office's fridge, emptied the trash, ran errands, and assisted Fumo in fielding questions from constituents at meetings.

Under questioning from Pease, Nelson - who upon retirement was being paid $60,000 a year - admitted he did few of the tasks put down in official papers documenting his work, such as writing laws, preparing agendas for meetings, and editing reports.

In one official job description, Nelson's duties were said to include managing supplies. Nelson told the jury that was accurate because he would sometimes tell receptionists: "Call the Senate. We're out of memo pads."

Patricia Freeland, head of the Fumo-supported Spring Garden Community Development Corp., was asked about a September 2004 e-mail in which a top Fumo computer technician, Leonard P. Luchko, told her he had deleted several dozen e-mails from her computer.

"Don't forget to delete any e-mail you have received or have sent to the senator," Luchko wrote to Freeland, a former Fumo legislative aide.

This e-mail was sent after prosecutors had subpoenaed records from the CDC, putting it on clear notice that an investigation was under way.

Freeland said she was unaware of what Luchko had been doing to her computer. She said she had faithfully turned over any material she had to investigators.

Luchko has pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice in the Fumo case. Lawyers for Fumo, who is facing his own obstruction charge, have suggested that Luchko acted on his own.