A Pennsylvania Democratic state representative convicted of corruption for allegedly taking part in an illegal gambling ring is scheduled to be sentenced Monday.
Former Pennsylvania state Rep. Marc Gergely (D-Allegheny County), 48, is expected to appear in court Monday to be sentenced on charges of conspiracy and violating state campaign finance laws, Fox News reports.
Gergely, who served in Pennsylvania’s state house for seven terms, had been forced to resign from his state house seat in November as part of a plea deal he inked with prosecutors in August that would allow him to be charged with lesser, misdemeanor charges if he pleaded guilty.
Prosecutors accused Gergely of using his position as an elected official to convince business owners to install gambling machines owned by Ronald “Porky” Melocchi, who used to own gaming machines. Gergely, along with liquor attorney Louis Caputo, reportedly did this to “protect” Melocchi.
“While other vendors could at times offer more lucrative terms in an effort to secure new ‘stops,’ Melocchi would rely upon the character and business traits that he possessed as well as his connections to compete with these other vendors,” the state grand jury wrote, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Prosecutor Mark Serge said that Gergely worked with Caputo to make it look like Melocchi had “friends in high places.”
Prosecutors also alleged that Gergely violated state campaign finance laws on third-party contributions when he passed along a donation from Melocchi to another individual.
Caputo had been sentenced to five years of probation last summer for criminal solicitation. Melocchi had been sentenced to ten years of probation after pleading guilty to corruption charges in 2015.
Even though Gergely is out of the state house, his legislation lives on. He pushed for a gambling expansion bill allowing gambling machines at Pennsylvania truck stops before his resignation, and it had been signed into law by Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf.
Gergley’s successor will be chosen in a special election scheduled for January 23.
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