Testimony ends in Fumo trial

PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 20 (UPI) -- Testimony in the corruption trial of former Pennsylvania state Sen. Vincent Fumo ended Thursday with the final witness his former lawyer.

Robert Scandone, testifying for federal prosecutors as a rebuttal witness, said he never told Fumo he could delete e-mails, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. Fumo, during four days on the witness stand, maintained that Scandone and Daniel Sprague, one of Philadelphia's most prominent lawyers, had told him he could.

Sprague testified Wednesday. He said his relationship with Fumo was no longer friendly, although it had been "as close a relationship, I believe, as you could have."

Fumo, once one of Philadelphia's most powerful Democratic politicians, gave up his Senate seat after 30 years while waiting for trial. He allegedly used his Senate staff to do personal chores and political work and took thousands of dollars in goods and services from a museum and a community group he had founded, and extorted contributions from a utility.

The jury was dismissed until Monday, when closing arguments begin.