No one can predict how the appeals process will shake out for former state Rep. Mike Veon of Beaver County and two of his one-time aides — assuming, of course, that appeals of their convictions on political corruption charges are in fact filed.

Veon's attorney, Dan Raynak, has promised such a filing.

But the guilty verdict against the former second-ranking House Democratic leader, who was defeated in his re-election bid in 2006, will provide strong incentive for what has become known as the Bonusgate investigation to continue uninterrupted. That is as it should be.

At the same time, even though they are presumed innocent until poven guilty, others facing charges stemming from Bonusgate have cause to feel greater apprehension about what might lie ahead than they might have been feeling prior to Monday's convictions.

Those others include Rep. Bill DeWeese, D-Greene; former Rep. Steve Stetler, D-York; Rep. John Perzel, R-Philadelphia; former Rep. Brett Feese, R-Lycoming County; and a number of others tied to the House Democratic and Republican caucuses.

Despite the uncertainties about what might lie ahead in regard to future appeals, state taxpayers are justified in feeling a measure of satisfaction stemming from Monday's verdicts. Having had $1.4 million of their tax revenue improperly used to pay bonuses to state workers who did political work on state time between 2004 and 2006, taxpayers are justified in being just as livid as they were after learning about the July 2005 middle-of-the-night legislative pay-raise vote that subsequently was repealed.

That pay raise is viewed as having been the main factor for Veon's re-election defeat — not the actual pay-raise vote, but the fact that Veon was the lone vote against repealing the raise.

For the Veon jurors, reaching a verdict was an arduous task involving about 59 hours of deliberations over seven days. To those still facing court proceedings over Bonusgate-related charges, the jurors' lengthy consideration of the charges represented a source of hope that not-guilty verdicts might be on the way.

Had such a result been forthcoming, those with court proceedings ahead might have been justified in arguing that, facing charges similar to those for which Veon was acquitted, they too should be found innocent.

But that wasn't to be, and Veon and his two guilty co-defendants now face sentencing on May 21.

Meanwhile, Veon and one of the co-defendants, Annamarie Perretta-Rosepink, who ran Veon's Beaver Falls district office, still face charges in a related case pertaining to the Beaver Initiative for Growth, a nonprofit organization he founded and headed.

Also found guilty Monday was Brett Cott, 37, who managed Veon's failed 2006 re-election campaign. Steve Keefer, former House Demo-cratic information technology supervisor and Veon's 2006 campaign treasurer, was the only one of the four defendants who was cleared on all charges.

He had faced 16 counts tied to the Bonusgate scandal.

After the verdicts were handed down, Chief Deputy Attorney General Frank Fina, the lead prosecutor, emphasizing that Veon was proven to have stolen more than $1 million in the form of bonuses, said, "We hope it sends a strong message to the rest of our elected officials . . . to stop using the people's money for their own benefit."

If only after the 2005 pay-raise uproar, many state taxpayers harbored the mistaken notion that state lawmakers finally had been taught a stern lesson about the direction of this state's govenment.

Unfortunately, through 2006, that message was ignored — apparently by both the Democratic and Republican caucuses.

While Monday's verdicts might have implications for the 2010 gubernatorial race, in which Attorney General Tom Corbett, the head of the Bonusgate probe, is a candidate, what cannot be disputed is Corbett's obligation, from the start, to pursue allegations that millions of taxpayer dollars had been handed out illegally to legislative employees for campaign work. That effort must continue as long as there is justification for doing so.

Bonusgate is a dark blot on the reputation of Pennsylvania government. Perhaps Veon is one of those whose ultimate fate will discourage wrongdoing and violations of the public trust in the future.

Veon's verdict reinforces the fact that what happens in Pennsylvania government needs greater public scrutiny than it ever has had.