Feds raid home, office of Pa. Sen. Minority leader
HARRISBURG – Federal agents this morning raided the home and district office of Sen. Minority Leader Robert J. Mellow (D., Lackawanna), federal authorities have confirmed.
It is unclear what time the raid occurred and what was taken from the two locations.
FBI special agent Frank Burton Jr. would say only: "Based on an ongoing joint federal investigation into alleged illegal activities of Sen. Robert Mellow, those search warrants were executed this morning."
Mellow could not be reached for immediate comment.
"Sen. Mellow is cooperating fully with all requests and he is willing to provide any information that is deemed necessary to complete their inquiry," said his press secretary Lisa Scullin.
The Inquirer reported last year that the Senate spent $213,000 in state funds over several years to rent Mellow's district office in Peckville from a business half-owned by his then-wife, Diane Mellow. After they divorced, her share of the business went to Mellow.
Gene Stilp, a longtime Harrisburg citizen activist and critic of Mellow, has filed a complaint about the rental arrangement with the state Ethics Commission, which in the past has barred legislators from renting space from themselves at state expense. Federal agents interviewed Diane Mellow last August as part of an inquiry into the rental arrangement.
Mellow, the state Senate's Democratic leader and longest-sitting current member, announced earlier this year that he is retiring and will not be seeking another four-year term.
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