In his first interview since a Westmoreland jury acquitted him of perjury and gun possession charges, state Sen. Robert Regola described the case against him as a “witch hunt.”

“It’s a big relief. I’m happy for the outcome and want to commend the jury of 12 men and women who deserve a lot of credit for seeing this was nothing more than a political prosecution,” Regola said Wednesday.

“I said throughout this terrible, terrible tragedy that I was innocent of any wrongdoing, and that never changed in the year and a half my family and I have been going through this. But I’ve always felt I was wrongfully accused and the charges filed against me were unfounded,” Regola said.  read more »

A state senator did not commit a crime by failing to notify police about his missing gun nor did he lie under oath about where he had stored the gun in his house, his attorneys said.

The gun wound up in the hands of a 14-year-old neighbor, who used it to kill himself, authorities have said.

Attorneys for state Sen. Robert Regola III, R-Westmoreland, on Wednesday asked a judge to dismiss perjury, weapons violation and reckless endangerment charges. The freshman senator is running for a second four-year term, but faces expulsion from office if he’s convicted of perjury.  read more »