HARRISBURG -- Four more defendants in the Bonusgate government corruption case have waived their right to a preliminary hearing, clearing the way for their cases to move to trial.

Jeffrey Foreman, Scott V. Brubaker, his wife, Jennifer Brubaker, and Patrick J. Lavelle appeared yesterday before Dauphin County President Judge Richard A. Lewis and agreed to have their cases bound over to county court.

They join spouses Michael Manzo and Rachel Manzo, who waived their preliminary hearings last week.

The six are among 12 people charged in an alleged scheme to divert tax dollars to political campaigns of House Democratic incumbents.

Mr. Brubaker, former director of administration for the House Democrats, is accused of helping to orchestrate a scheme to award bonuses to staffers as veiled compensation for campaign work. He also is alleged to have directed state workers to political tasks and used state resources to prepare challenges to opponents' petitions for ballot spots.

Mrs. Brubaker is former director of the House Democratic Office of Legislative Research, where the bulk of campaign work is alleged to have occurred. She is accused of directing employees to do political work.

Mr. Foreman, a former caucus attorney, is alleged to have participated in the bonus scheme and to have directed an ongoing partisan political operation from inside the Capitol. Additionally, he is accused of performing work for his private law firm while being paid by the state.

Mr. Manzo, former chief of staff to House Democratic Leader Bill DeWeese, is accused of conspiring in the bonus scheme. He also is accused of engineering ballot challenges using state workers and putting a girlfriend in a do-little job on the state payroll and assigning her to a phony state office on Pittsburgh's South Side.

Mrs. Manzo, a former aide to state Rep. Todd Eachus, is accused of organizing cadres of employees to work on legislative campaigns on state time and doing so herself. .....

Mr. Lavelle -- a former caucus staffer known as "P.J." -- is believed to have been a full-time political operative who allegedly did no legitimate legislative work while on the state payroll.

All five were among the recipients of the largest bonuses given to caucus staffers in 2006.

The investigation is continuing, and state Attorney General Tom Corbett has said that more arrests are likely.