Roberts staff member testifies

A member of Uniontown-area state Rep. Larry Roberts' staff testified that she overheard her boss saying that his campaign manager and a notary public needed to "keep the same story" at the outset of a political scandal that went before the Fayette County Election Board on Thursday.

Donna Delgooffre-Vorrasi, who works in Roberts' Connellsville office, also said under oath that Roberts' campaign manager, Delores "Toots" Perno, instructed her earlier yesterday to "say I don't know anything."

Roberts, a South Union Township Democrat who's held office for 12 years, is accused by former Democratic challenger Tim Mahoney, of Uniontown, of forging petitions and bribing a dupe candidate to join the race.

A recent ruling in Commonwealth Court struck Mahoney from the ballot in the upcoming Democratic primary. His statement of financial interest, a form required of candidates under the state Ethics Act, was incomplete. He said he still plans to run as an independent in the fall.

The state Attorney General's Office also is looking into Mahoney's allegations about Roberts. Special Agent Charles Becker, who attended yesterday's hearing, told the board that the investigation is still in its infancy and that an investigation by a grand jury is being considered.

Because of the state's probe, Fayette County Senior Judge William Franks, who sits on the three-member election board, questioned the purpose of yesterday's hearing.

Franks said that, at most, the election board has the jurisdiction only to hand over its finding to the county district attorney's office, and that's already been done. District Attorney Nancy Vernon forwarded the case to the Attorney General's Office, though.

Attorney Thomas W. Shaffer, who described Mahoney as both a client and a lifelong friend, replied: "We would move to have Mr. Roberts struck from the ballot. ... We do not have any guarantee on what the attorney general will do."

Roberts himself didn't attend the hearing, saying that he had duties in Harrisburg. The House is in session this week.

His lawyer, Douglas S. Sepic, told the panel that he wasn't prepared to defend in a case in which Roberts would be removed from the ballot.

Franks pointed out that Mahoney's petition, which essentially requested the hearing, did not indicate that Roberts' removal was desired. It simply asked for the election board to investigate.

Shaffer then said he would not seek to strike Roberts from the ballot yesterday but may try to in the future.

He accuses the state representative of masterminding a scheme to draw votes from Mahoney with the help of a 20-year-old carpet installer, Michael A. Ciampanelli, who claims Roberts agreed to pay $200 for the task.

Ciampanelli, dressed in a black T-shirt, baggy jeans and sneakers, testified that he was once told there was nothing illegal about his joining the race for the 51st Legislative District. But he said he also knew he was there to draw votes from Mahoney.

"They needed someone to split the votes," he said.

The Mahoney camp further alleges that Roberts forged 33 signatures to his own nominating petition.

Marsha Heinbaugh, the notary public who notarized some of the alleged forgeries, broke into tears while testifying yesterday.

She said she has been ill and notarized a stack of Roberts' petitions so mechanically she didn't realize they were forgeries, or that a stack of Ciampanelli's lay underneath.

"I never realized anybody else's name was on the petitions," she said. "I had stopped looking at them. ... I just can't take it anymore. I don't do anything dishonest."

Shaffer brought forth witness after witness to testify that their names had been forged or misrepresented. Of the 85 alleged forgeries between Roberts' and Ciampanelli's petitions, 10 included invalid addresses, two listed the addresses of vacant houses, and one listed an address that doesn't exist.

Delgooffre-Vorrasi, who was among the last to testify during the three-hour hearing, at first answered Shaffer's questions by saying that all she knew about the case was "hearsay."

But then she described a scene weeks ago sitting in Perno's kitchen, when she overheard Roberts speaking about the alleged scandal.

"He said if Marsha and Toots (Perno) could keep the same story, this would all be OK," she said.

Delgooffre-Vorrasi was called to the stand a second time after the board heard testimony from Lee England, a private investigator working on the case.

England served her with a subpoena yesterday morning. Hysterical, she called Perno for guidance.

Perno testified that she gave the same advice about the hearing that Delgooffre-Vorrasi gave her: Don't lie.

But England said he got a different perception of the conversation as he stood in Roberts' office.

"She got off the phone and said, 'She wants me to lie,'" England said.

Perno, who was sitting three rows in front of Delgooffre-Vorrasi in the audience, quickly turned around.

"Donna, you said that?" she asked. Then she began scowling at Delgooffre-Vorrasi. Shaffer asked the woman why her testimony and England's were out of line.

She said she was having problems with his questions.

"You need to let me speak my language, not yours," she said.

During her second time on the stand, Delgooffre-Vorrasi attempted to clarify.

"She (Perno) told me to come here and say I don't know anything," she said. "She did not come out and say, 'Lie.' She told me to go in and say I don't know anything."

After the hearing, Delgooffre-Vorrasi, who had started talking to the attorney general special agent, declined to comment.

The election board made no ruling on yesterday's testimony.