He was found guilty on 11 counts of conspiracy, mail fraud, perjury, and interstate transportation in aid of racketeering, and was scheduled to be sentenced on January 23, 1987.

[5] On January 22, Dwyer arranged a news conference in the Pennsylvania State Capitol Building in Harrisburg, during which he fatally shot himself with a .357 Magnum revolver in the presence of reporters.

[20] Dwyer awarded the no-bid $4.6 million contract to Computer Technology Associates (CTA), a California-based company, owned by John Torquato Jr., a native of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on May 10, 1984.

[21][22] Schatzman later contacted officials of the accounting company Arthur Young and Associates, who confirmed that the no-bid CTA contract was overpriced by millions of dollars.

[23] In June 1984 the Office of the Pennsylvania Auditor General informed the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the alleged bribery that occurred during the awarding of the contract.

[20] Subsequently, Dwyer repeatedly attempted to stop, divert and forestall the investigation, stating that the U.S. attorney had neither the authority nor evidence to pursue prosecution.

[29] After being indicted by a federal grand jury, Dwyer was finally charged with agreeing to receive a kickback of $300,000 in return for awarding CTA the contract.

[37] In the hopes of reducing his twelve-year sentence resulting from his 1985 conviction, Smith testified on behalf of the federal government against Dwyer and Asher at their 1986 trial.

Furthermore, his task force's contribution merely consisted in the making of a single telephone call to David I. Herbert (the former State Director for Social Security, who controlled FICA recovery for Pennsylvania's public employees, and who was convicted subsequently for conspiring with CTA).

[44][29][45] Dwyer awarded the contract to CTA—an obscure California-based company with three employees, little equipment, and little experience—despite being informed in April 1984 by the major Pennsylvania-based accounting company Arthur Young and Associates, which had 250 employees and submitted a proposal on April 13, 1984, at least fourteen days prior to CTA's proposal, that they could perform the FICA recovery as fast as CTA for half the cost.

Moreover, Dwyer admitted that he did not mention the concept of "immediate credit" to Arthur Young and Associates when officials from the company asked why CTA was chosen instead of them.

At his trial, Dwyer did not testify, and his lawyer, Paul Killion, presented no defense witnesses[46] since he thought that the government did not sufficiently prove its case.

[27][52][23] On December 18, 1986, Dwyer was found guilty on 11 counts of conspiracy, mail fraud, perjury and interstate transportation in aid of racketeering, and was consequently liable to a sentence of as much as 55 years imprisonment and a $300,000 fine.

[64] On January 20, Dwyer wrote a letter to then-Senator Joe Biden and Congressman Peter W. Rodino, who were at the time the chairs of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the House Judiciary Committee respectively, asking them to conduct an investigation into the CTA affair, to reform the justice system in the United States, and if this was not done, to completely remove the word "justice" from everything related to the DOJ.

[65] The same day, Dwyer was visited by his personal friends, bail bondsman Harvey Childs and his wife Linda, during which Dwyer claimed that he could not have taken a bribe because he could not have accounted for it, and watched the inauguration of Governor Bob Casey on television, lamenting that he should have been Lieutenant Governor for William Scranton III, the Republican candidate who lost the gubernatorial election to Casey.

In his letter, Dwyer once again professed his innocence and stated that the concept of immediate credit was not understood by the uneducated, unsophisticated "rural" jury at his trial.

[4][71] Dwyer wanted to ban certain reporters from the press conference who he believed wrote biased accounts about him and even suggested that a guard should be in attendance to prevent entry to those who were not on his authorized list.

[64] Before the press conference, acting U.S. Attorney West, who had secured the conviction against Dwyer, remarked that a resignation "sounds like the appropriate thing to do under the circumstances.

Appearing agitated, Dwyer again professed his innocence and accused acting U.S. Attorney James West, FBI agents, U.S. District Court Judge Malcolm Muir, the media and others for abusing the justice system and ruining him.

"[74] Dwyer continued, I thank the good Lord for giving me 47 years of exciting challenges, stimulating experiences, many happy occasions and most of all the finest wife and children any man could ever desire.

No one cares, you'll look foolish, 60 Minutes, 20/20, the American Civil Liberties Union, Jack Anderson, and others have been publicizing cases like yours for years and it doesn't bother anyone.

But to those of you with depth and concern the real story will be what I hope and pray results from this morning—in the coming months and years[,] the development of a true justice system here in the United States.

Please make sure that the sacrifice of my life is not in vain.After deciding to break from his speech, Dwyer called to three of his staffers, giving each a sealed envelope with the insignia of the treasury department.

The last, given to Deputy Treasurer Don Johnson, contained materials intended for Dwyer's family, including three letters: one for his wife Joanne, and one for each of his children, Rob and DeeDee (Dyan),[75] and suggested funeral arrangements.

[62][13] Freelance photographer Gary Miller, one of the reporters in attendance, described the scene at this time, stating: "It was just kind of a long-winded, sad event.

One of the cameras remained focused on Dwyer and captured close-up footage of the aftermath of the shooting; as his body slumped, blood streamed from the exit wound in the back of his head as well as from his nostrils and mouth.

[91] In his final press statement, Dwyer alleged that Governor Thornburgh along with prosecutor James West, engaged in a political vendetta against him, and that FBI agents had acted improperly in their investigation.

Swift, former Capitol reporter, noted that Dwyer's allegations were extensively investigated by journalists from both The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Associated Press, but no evidence was found to substantiate them.

[95] Pennsylvanian journalist and author Brad Bumsted suggested that Dwyer's allegations against Thornburgh may have been an attempt to divert attention from his own criminal activity with CTA.

[13][100] A spokesman for Dwyer suggested that he may have killed himself to preserve the pension benefits for his family, whose finances had been ruined by legal defense costs.