GREENSBURG, Pa. -- The 17-year-old son of state Sen. Bob Regola faced gun charges at a trial in juvenile court on Friday, Team 4 investigator Paul Van Osdol reported.

Bobby Regola, of Hempfield, Westmoreland County, is charged with illegal possession of a handgun with which his friend and neighbor, Louis Farrell, allegedly shot himself.

Because the teen's trial was held in juvenile court, it was a closed-doors proceeding.

Testimony ended in the afternoon. The judge took the case under advisement and will make a ruling after reviewing briefs from lawyers.

In juvenile court, a suspect is either found to be delinquent or not delinquent. It's unknown when the judge will make that finding in Bobby Regola's case.

After the hearing, sheriff's deputies allowed Sen. Regola and Bobby Regola to leave through a back door so they could avoid reporters.

Bobby Regola is charged with a misdemeanor because it is illegal for a minor to possess a handgun.

The weapon belonged to Bobby Regola's father.

Farrell, 14, was found dead in the woods behind his home on July 22, 2006. The county coroner ruled that the boy committed suicide.

At the coroner's inquest into Farrell's death, a friend testified that Bobby Regola had the gun, and a state police trooper said Sen. Regola told him he once kept the gun in Bobby's bedroom.

But during Sen. Regola's testimony at the inquest, he denied telling the trooper that his son ever kept the gun in his bedroom.

Sen. Regola is charged with illegally allowing his son to possess the gun. He is also charged with perjury, false swearing and reckless endangerment.

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