KDKA Investigators

Former DeWeese Aide Accused Of Hiring Ghost Worker

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ― A dozen suspects in "Bonus Gate" were arraigned in Harrisburg.

Along with Mike Veon, Michael Manzo, former chief of staff for Bill DeWeese, D-Greene County, faces the most charges.

Manzo's wife, Rachel, has also been charged.

But Manzo is also accused of keeping a girlfriend on the payroll and giving her a ghost job.

Angela Bertugli, a 21-year-old law student and former beauty contestant who Attorney General Tom Corbett described as a sexual liason of Manzo, has not been charged.

Corbett says Bertugli was given a bogus job and office atop a cigar store on the South Side and nearly $30,000 a year.

"Bertugli did not go through an interview or job application process prior to starting her employment and was not told what she would be doing," Corbett said.

The presentment says for her state-issued paycheck and bonuses, Bertugli performed some political work or else did nothing at all. She did attend classes at a graduate school and had sex with Manzo on his trips to Pittsburgh.

But Manzo's lawyer says his client, in all of his actions, was not motivated by self interest.

"Anyone who believes that the allegations in this presentment were masterminded by Mike Manzo for his benefit are very naive," Jim Eisenhower, his attorney, said.

But Manzo's action certainly cast a grim light on his former boss Bill DeWeese.

DeWeese fired Manzo along with seven other employees when he says he found out about the diversion of public money for political campaigns.

In an interview with Jon Delano in February, DeWeese said he was unaware of their actions.

"No leader can be involved at that tactical level day in, day out and if you have that many people there's just too many people," he said.

But sources say he remains under investigation by the Attorney General.

"I'm not an investigative person. I'm a public official and the Attorney General and his team are looking at this and we'll have to wait and see how it comes out," DeWeese said in February.

The actions of Manzo, the cigar store and the girlfriend are at best a lingering embarrassment.

Corbett did stress that the this is not over and that both political parties are involved.

The Attorney General is also not through with Veon and B.I.G., the Beaver Initiative for Growth, a fund being investigated for possible misappropriation of funds.

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