For years, former state Sen. Vince Fumo affected your life in ways you probably never knew - how your bridge tolls were spent, who set your property taxes or ran Fairmount Park, who sat in judgment on your civil and criminal disputes.

In a 30-year career, Fumo accumulated power and influence on a scale rarely seen, raising and spending enormous amounts of money and building influence among elected officials, judges, and countless boards and agencies that make policy, control jobs and award contracts.

So what happens now, as Fumo awaits a jury's verdict in his federal corruption trial? Will the Fumo empire endure? Will it find a new leader?

No, say most Fumo allies and observers.

While friends, allies and appointees of Fumo will remain embedded in influential positions for some time, the network has lost its nerve center and will no longer function as a team.