Perzel out of prison

SOMERSET, Pa.

- Former Pennsylvania House Speaker John Perzel, a Philadelphia Republican, was paroled yesterday morning after serving nearly two years in prison on a corruption conviction.

Perzel was released from Laurel Highlands prison in western Pennsylvania, Corrections Department officials said.

Perzel, 64, pleaded guilty in 2011 to conspiracy, conflict of interest and theft charges as part of a plea deal that required him to cooperate with the prosecution of his former co-defendants.

He also was ordered to pay $1 million in restitution and will remain on parole, subject to certain restrictions and monitoring, through the end of his maximum prison term in April 2017.

Prosecutors said Perzel was the architect of an illegal scheme to pay millions of taxpayer dollars to out-of-state consultants who helped develop massive voter databases and customized software to give Republican legislative candidates an electoral edge.

Perzel represented a working-class district in Northeast Philadelphia for three decades. He was first elected in 1979 and spent most of his tenure in GOP leadership, including his two terms as speaker, before voters ousted him in 2010 after he was charged with corruption.