Farnese fraud case to begin next week, judge rules

A federal judge on Friday cleared the way for State Sen. Larry Farnese's fraud trial to begin next week, shooting down his last-minute push to have the charges against him thrown out.

In a 13-page opinion, U.S. District Judge Cynthia M. Rufe rejected for now defense claims that federal prosecutors improperly charged Farnese with bribing a local Democratic committeewoman to win her vote in his 2011 bid to become leader of South Philadelphia's Eighth Ward.

It was too early to tell, the judge wrote, whether the Justice Department overstepped its authority in seeking to police what the defense has described as essentially an internal vote to pick the leaders of a private organization, the Democratic City Committee. Only a trial would present the evidence that could conclusively answer that question, she said.

Farnese, 48, and Ellen Chapman, 62, were charged in May with counts including conspiracy and fraud.

Prosecutors allege that Chapman initially backed another candidate in the ward leader vote until Farnese offered to bankroll a study-abroad trip for her daughter.

Farnese allegedly had his campaign treasurer make a $6,000 donation from his senatorial campaign account to the school administering the girl's program - Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y. Chapman then agreed to switch her vote, securing Farnese the election, the indictment states. [Previous stories have incorrectly reported that she was a Bard student.]

Farnese and Chapman have denied the allegations. But their lawyers contend that Chapman's role as a Democratic committeewoman is not considered a public or party office under state law and that her actions are not subject to federal prosecution.

"This is not a matter of public importance," Farnese's lawyer Mark B. Sheppard said during a hearing Wednesday. "It did not in any way affect an election for public office. This is purely organizational ... and now a prosecutor from Washington is going to come in and tell the Eighth Ward what the Eighth Ward should be doing?"

Prosecutors dispute that characterization and liken the case to that of an employee prosecuted for defrauding her employer.

Chapman, they said, defrauded the Democratic City Committee by failing to conduct herself honestly in her job as a committee member. Farnese allegedly defrauded his campaign fund by failing to explain to his treasurer that the $6,000 - listed on his campaign documents as a donation to Bard - was actually a bribe.

Farnese, whose district includes Center City and stretches from South Philadelphia to Brewerytown and Port Richmond in the north, won reelection to a third four-year term in November. He remains the Eighth District's ward leader.

Jury selection in the case is set to begin Monday.

jroebuck@phillynews.com

215-854-2608 @jeremyrroebuck