Oct 28, 2008 10:11 pm US/Eastern
State Sen. Dianne Wilkerson Arrested By FBI
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
-
-
In this photo provided by the U.S. Attorney's Office, Wilkerson allegedly stuffed a $1,000 cash bribe in her bra.
U.S. Attorney's Office
-
-
Dianne Wilkerson (file image)
WBZ
State Senator Dianne Wilkerson was arrested early Tuesday by the FBI on public corruption charges.
U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan said Wilkerson took $23,500 in bribes between June 2007 and October 2008. He said there were eight payments made during that period in connection with the use of her office.
She was arraigned in federal court Tuesday afternoon and was released on $50,000 bail. She
refused to speak to reporters as she left court.
Read The Criminal ComplaintFederal agents were in Wilkerson's State House office early Tuesday. It was sealed by State Police and the agents were reportedly reviewing documents.
THE CHARGES
- Investigators say Wilkerson was recorded on audio and videotape accepting the bribes from undercover agents, ranging in amounts from $500 to $10,000.
- Between June 2007 and March 2008, Wilkerson allegedly took $8,500 in cash payments from an undercover agent and a cooperating witness to help a proposed nightclub in her district get a liquor license.
- She allegedly pressured the Boston License Board, Mayor Thomas Menino and City Council on behalf of the nightclub, and delayed legislation that would have increased the salaries of members of the licensing board.
- Beginning in June, she allegedly accepted $15,000 in payments in exchange for helping an undercover officer posing as a businessman to avoid the bidding process to develop state property in Roxbury.
- She was charged in a federal criminal complaint with attempted extortion as a public official and theft of honest services as a state senator.
- If convicted, she faces up to 20 years in prison and $250,000 in fines on each count.
STRUGGLING TO KEEP SEAT
Wilkerson, who represents the Second Suffolk district, has been a prominent member of the Massachusetts State Senate for 15 years.
She is now waging a write-in campaign to retain that seat, after losing a close primary contest to Sonia Chang-Diaz.
HISTORY OF TROUBLE The arrest is the latest in a string of problems for Wilkerson.
On Friday, the state Bar Counsel filed a complaint against her, accusing her of lying under oath in an effort to overturn her nephew's manslaughter conviction.
The complaint alleges that Wilkerson signed a false affidavit and lied at a 2005 court hearing seeking a new trial for Jermaine Berry, who was convicted of voluntary manslaughter in 1995 and again in a 2001 retrial. It says Wilkerson also lied to the bar counsel in its investigation of the allegations against her.
The complaint alleges Wilkerson deliberately signed a false affidavit and repeatedly lied under oath when she claimed she was present when a distant cousin gave a statement to police that suggested he, not Berry, had fatally stabbed Hazel Mack in 1994.
The penalty could include disbarment.
PAST MONEY PROBLEMS
- In September 2005, the state attorney general and head of the state's campaign finance office filed a lawsuit against Wilkerson, alleging she had not reported nearly $27,000 in donations and refused to explain more than $18,000 in personal reimbursements.
- The civil suit alleged she and her former campaign treasurer, Ajibola Osinubi, violated state campaign finance laws in seven ways from 2000 to 2001 after Wilkerson settled with both offices for similar offenses in 1998.
- Wilkerson was previously sentenced to house arrest in December 1997 after pleading guilty for failing to pay $51,000 in federal income taxes in the early 1990s.
- In 2001, she also was fined $1,000 by the State Ethics Commission for failing to properly report that a bank she lobbied for as senator was paying her more than $20,000 a year as a consultant.
- In 1998, Wilkerson entered into an agreement with the OCPF and attorney general to resolve similar allegations of unexplained expenditures and undisclosed political action committee contributions. She and her committee agreed to pay back all unaccounted expenditures and to pay civil penalties totaling $11,500.
- Wilkerson was suspended from practicing law for one year in 1999 after a tax evasion conviction and did not seek reinstatement.
REACTION
Read: Allegations Disappoint Fellow Politicians
Senate President Therese Murray, who had endorsed Wilkerson and campaigned with her, said she was seeking an investigation by the Senate Ethics Committee and would remove the senator from her post as chairwoman of the Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight.
Governor Deval Patrick said the allegations were "troubling and sad."
"These are very serious charges and I will trust the judicial process to take them seriously," he said.
He added, "I want to respect the process, and she has been charged and not yet been tried. I am not going to try her in the media, but I can tell you if the issues are proven true she should resign, and I am deeply, deeply disappointed."
Senate Republican Leader Richard Tisei called on her to resign.
Sonia Chang-Diaz who defeated Wilkerson in the Democratic primary released this statement:
"My reaction to this news is simply one of sadness. Whenever the public's trust is violated, it's something that hurts the whole community and people's willingness to participate in politics.
"It's important to remember that the legal proceedings will continue, and like everyone else, Senator Wilkerson deserves a fair trial based on the facts, not a rush to judgment."
SECOND SENATOR ARRESTED IN 2008Wilkerson is the second state senator to be arrested this year.
Sen. James Marzilli was charged in July with assaulting several women.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
