LaGrotta gothic: An ex-legislator's scandal comments are too much

Anyone remember Frank LaGrotta, the former Beaver County legislator who pleaded guilty to putting no-show relatives on his payroll?

The Ellwood City Democrat was run out of office after being an unapologetic supporter of the middle-of-the-night pay raise legislators gave themselves in 2005, a hike that was rescinded once the political firestorm over it blew through the Capitol. He promised, then failed, to repay the raise, and he got to keep his state pension because he was cooperating in another investigation, presumably the Bonusgate scandal.

Well, that doesn't mean things are tight between Mr. LaGrotta and state Attorney General Tom Corbett, who is leading that investigation. Mr. LaGrotta, who was sentenced to six months of house arrest for the ghost-employee scheme, has a blog, where he's going after Mr. Corbett with both barrels.

If you want to read why yet another convict pleaded guilty to a crime that he now says he didn't commit, you might find it an interesting read. Or you just might find it appalling. The Web address is http://lagrottablog.blogspot.com/.

That's probably more than any citizen will be willing to swallow but, if not, Mr. LaGrotta has written a longer version, an as-yet-unpublished memoir that purports to lay out the early days of Bonusgate. The title is "Be Careful, I'm Wired!" referring to a note passed to Mr. LaGrotta by a former employee and friend. The 215-page manuscript has been rejected by more than a dozen publishers. They made the right call.