Harrisburg, Pa. - Attorney General Tom Corbett has announced criminal charges against Rep. John Perzel, former Rep. Brett Feese, and eight of their current or former aides in the House Republican caucus.

The charges are the result of an investigation into whether taxpayer money was spent on campaigns and are the first indictments since those of former Rep. Mike Veon and 11 other people connected to the House Democratic caucus in July 2008.

Perzel, who represents part of Philadelphia, was state House Speaker from 2003 to 2006. Feese is a former state representative from the Williamsport area who later became chief counsel to the caucus.

Perzel is expected to turn himself in Friday  to face the charges, Corbett said.

Among those charged, in addition to Perzel and Feese, are Perzel's former Chief of Staff, Brian Preski; his current Chief of Staff, Paul Towhey; Perzel's brother-in-law and former House employee, Samual "Buzz" Stokes; Perzel legislative aide John Zimmerman; Perzel campaign aide Don McClintock; Feese aides Jill Seaman and Elmer Bowman; and former House Republican Information Technology Deputy Director Eric Ruth.

Bowman is from Red Lion, Seaman resides in Dauphin, and Zimmerman lives in Hummelstown.

Perzel, the most prominent legislator to be charged in the investigation, faces 82 counts including conflict of interest, theft, hindering prosecution, and obstruction. Corbett said Perzel was "the architect behind a sophisticated criminal strategy that ultimately spent more than $10 million of taxpayers' money purely for campaign work."

The grand jury found that after Perzel was nearly defeated in the 2000 election, he initiated the creation of several computer databases to assist his campaign at the expense of Pennsylvania taxpayers. Corbett said Republican Information Technology spent countless hours working on some of the programs and that Perzel eventually hired his wife's nephew, Eric Ruth, to be Deputy Director of RIT to ensure campaign work took priority over everything else the staff did.

The work was eventually shifted to GCR & Associates in New Orleans, Louisiana, which received more than $9.2 million from House Republicans from 2001 through 2007, and another vendor, Aristotle International Inc. from Washington DC, which received $6.2 million from the caucus, mostly for their work on campaign programs, Corbett said.

The grand jury also found that Perzel punished a group of Republican House members who refused to adequately conform to his directives on how they should vote by directing untraceable "robo" or automated calls against them in their districts.

"The grand jury found that Perzel was aggressive in the acquisition and retention of power. He demanded obedience and loyalty and punished those, whether they were elected officials or employees, who challenged his power," Corbett said.

In a statement, Perzel said he is innocent of the charges and has never used public funds for personal or political gain. He said Corbett's investigation is politically motivated.

"This investigation has lasted for nearly three years, and it's only now, on the eve of his gubernatorial campaign and in response to claims that he was unfairly pursuing only Democrats, that Attorney General Corbett has decided to bring charges against 10 Republicans, including me," Perzel stated. "It smacks of political opportunism at the expense of my reputation, and I am going to fight very aggressively to prove my innocence."

Corbett said the length of the investigation was due to a "determined effort by some in the House Republican caucus not to cooperate with the investigation" and said his office, as well as the grand jury, "experienced a series of deliberate acts by House Republican members and employees to obstruct and hinder the investigation."

An obstruction of justice investigation within the House Republican caucus continues, Corbett said.

Corbett said if Perzel is convicted of all the charges against him he could face more than 500 years in prison and have to pay more than $1 million in fines.

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