The Philadelphia Story (10/15/2015)

It has been said that we have the best government money can buy. The city of Philadelphia while rich in history, is also rich in corrupt politicians. Recently,two local pundits received federal indictments: Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane and Philadelphia Congressman Chaka Fattah. They now join a list of many of our local politicians who got caught with their "hands in the cookie jar. " Let's take a stroll down memory lane and examine the records of some of our distinguished local politicians.

Arlene Ackerman

Although not an elected official, Dr. Arlene Ackerman served as the Superintendant of Philadelphia schools from 2008 to 2011.

In February of 2009, Ackerman introduced "Imagine 2014", her 5 year plan to improve Philadelphia schools. However, she did not put a price tag on the plan. In December, Asian students were beaten in racially motivated attacks at South Philadelphia High. Ackerman drew controversy for her response and the length of time it took her to address the matter. Multiple investigations followed, including one by the U.S. Department of Justice, which ultimately resulted in a consent decree requiring changes. One year later, a Philadelphia Inquirer story details Ackerman's involvement in giving a $7.5 million emergency contract for security cameras to a minority-owned company (www.phillynews.com, Arlene Ackerman's Time in Philadelphia).

Ackerman's claim to have overseen an improvement in Philadelphia students' performance on standardized tests was challenged by the emergence of evidence that students' scores were inflated by widespread teacher-assisted cheating.

In February of 2011, Ackerman says the district will have a budget gap of at least $400 million for 2011-12, which later balloons to $629 million.

Arlene Ackerman was forced to resign by Mayor Michael Nutter, the School Reform Commission (SRC), and a bellowing litany of complaints from state senators, teachers, parents, and students alike. Rampant school violence, dictatorial policy decisions with no teacher involvement, racial intimidation against Asian students at South Philadelphia High School, extremely unethical bidding for multi-million dollar contracts, the largest school deficit in district history, and recent allegations of test score manipulation clouded Ackerman's legacy of work for the Philadelphia school district. After three years, she reached an agreement with the SRC to resign in return for $905,000 plus $86,000 in unused vacation pay. In November 2011, she caused surprise by filing for unemployment compensation (Dunham, Will, Reuters, 7/29/2015).

Leland Beloff

Leland "Lee" Beloff, 70, was a South Philadelphia boxer-turned-State Representative-turned-City Councilman. In 1987, while serving on Council, he was taken down by federal prosecutors for extorting $1 million from Liberty Place developer Willard Rouse and for forcing a builder to provide his mistress with a $945-a-month apartment for free. His co-defendant was Philadelphia Mob boss Nicodemo Scarfo.

Lee Beloff was paroled in 1993 after nearly six years at Allenwood and served an additional two months under house arrest in Gladwyne. Naturally, this being Philadelphia, his old neighborhood elected him Democratic ward chairman shortly after he became a free man. "That's what South Philadelphia is all about," said one local Democratic ward leader at the time. "We stay loyal to our people." (Fiorillo, Victor, Philadelphia Magazine, Disgraced Ex-City Councilman and Wife Sue "Luxury" Drug Rehab, 5/17/1991).

Henry "Buddy" Cianfrani

In 1977, Cianfrani was convicted on federal charges of racketeering and mail fraud for padding his Senate payroll. His case was prosecuted in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania by U.S. attorney David W. Marston, who was later removed from the position by U.S. President Jimmy Carter. Cianfrani was sentenced to five years in federal prison. After serving for twenty-seven months, he was released in 1980.

Joshua Eilberg

On October 24, 1978, Congressman Joshua Eilberg was indicted by a Philadelphia grand jury, of receiving compensation illegally after helping Hahnemann hospital obtain a $14.5 million federal grant.

In Febraury of 1979 the man who once said of Richard- M. Nixon, “I feel that he doesn't have the character to be President.”, pleaded guilty to one count of conflict of interest for accepting fees from his former law firm for obtaining a $14.5 million federal grant for Hahnemann Hospital. He was sentenced to five years probation and fined $10,000 by U.S. District Judge Raymond Broderick, and was suspended from the practice of law for five years by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

During the investigation it became known that Eilberg had telephoned President Carter and urged him to “expedite” the removal of David W. Marston, United States Attorney in Philadelphia, a Republican holdover whose office was investigating the charges, as well as charges against two political associates.

In 1975, Eilberg had written to the United States Parole Board to request a pardon for Maurice Osser, a former city commissioner convicted of receiving kickbacks. Eilberg first denied then two months later admitted to the charges.

In his denial, Mr. Eilberg said: “As a member of the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives, this would have been an improper act, -because the committee has jurisdiction over the Federal prison system.”

When The Philadelphia Inquirer obtained a copy of the letter, in which Mr. Eilberg said that Mr. Osser's “reputation in the community has been, and, as far as I know, continues to be high,” Mr. Eilberg said that his denial had been the result of an “office mixup.” (Tolcbin, Martin, Joshua Eilberg, The New York Times, 1/31/1978)

Chaka Fattah

Democratic U.S. Congressman Chaka Fattah of Pennsylvania and four associates were charged on on July 29th, 2015 in a political corruption case with bribery and misusing hundreds of thousands of dollars of federal, charitable and campaign funds.

Fattah, 58, was indicted by a federal grand jury on 29 counts in an alleged racketeering conspiracy, the U.S. Department of Justice said. The charges included bribery, mail fraud, falsification of records, bank fraud, money laundering, making false statements to a financial institution and other crimes.

The indictment said that in Fattah's failed 2007 campaign for mayor of Philadelphia, the congressman and certain associates borrowed $1 million from a wealthy supporter and disguised the funds as a loan to a consulting company.

The Justice Department said after losing the election, Fattah returned $400,000 to the donor and arranged for a non-profit entity he founded to repay the remaining $600,000 using charitable and federal grant funds that passed through two other companies.

To conceal the contribution and repayment scheme, the defendants and others created sham contracts and made false entries in accounting records, tax returns and campaign finance disclosure statements, the department said.

The indictment said Fattah, after his mayoral defeat, sought to erase about $130,000 in campaign debt owed to a political consultant by agreeing to arrange for the consultant to get federal grant funds.

Fattah also was accused of misappropriating funds from mayoral and congressional campaigns to repay $23,000 toward his son's college loan debt. Chaka Fattah Jr. was charged in 2014 with fraud related to loans associated with a business he ran, and is awaiting trial.

The indictment accused the congressman of contacting government officials to try to get Vederman an ambassadorship or a U.S. Trade Commission appointment. The indictment accused the defendants of trying to conceal an $18,000 bribe from Vederman to Fattah by disguising it as a payment for a car sale that never occurred (Dunham, Will, Reuters, 7/29/2015).

Vince Fumo

Vince Fumo was a Pennsylvania state senator who served from 1978 to 2008. On February 6, 2007, a Federal grand jury named Fumo in a 137 count indictment, alleging mail fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy, obstruction of justice and filing a false tax return. Charges include using state workers to oversee construction of his mansion, spying on his ex-wife, and work on his farm. Additionally, the indictment accused him of misusing $1 million of state funds and $1 million from his charity for personal and campaign use and commandeering yachts from the Philadelphia Seaport Museum for personal travel(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vince_Fumo, 10/14/2015).

On March 16, 2009, he was convicted of 137 federal corruption charges. On July 14, 2009, he was sentenced to 55 months in federal prison. On July 14, 2009, Fumo was sentenced to 55 months in prison, substantially below the sentencing guidelines of 11 to 14 years. On November 11, 2011, upon a judicial review of his sentence, his prison term was increased by six months and the amount of his court-ordered restitution payment was increased by $1.1 million (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vince_Fumo, 10/14/2015).

Fumo succeeded Buddy Cianfrani as the in South Philadelphia's 1st Senatorial District. Ironically, Cianfrani was convicted of bribery, racketeering, and obstruction of justice.

Kathleen Kane

Pennsylvania attorney general, Kathleen G. Kane, 49, is facing a battery of criminal charges, accused of leaking grand jury information to embarrass political enemies and then committing perjury, obstruction and other crimes in a cover-up. She was both the first woman and the first Democrat to be elected attorney general in Pennsylvania since the office became elective in 1980. But she quickly became mired in vicious disputes with some former top prosecutors, with charges flying back and forth about cases mishandled or improperly dropped. As she re-examined the handling of the Sandusky case, her investigators also discovered that numerous officials in the attorney general's office and other state agencies had shared pornographic and racially offensive emails; a Supreme Court justice was forced to resign as a result.

But in August, the Montgomery County district attorney, Risa Vetri Ferman, charged Ms. Kane with illegally leaking information to the news media about grand jury proceedings in a 2014 case, then lying about it. That case had involved former state prosecutors with whom she was feuding.

Ms. Kane has also clashed with Philadelphia's Democratic District Attorney, R. Seth Williams, who has employed two former deputy attorneys general with whom she has traded accusations. Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, has previously called on her to resign, saying that he has not judged her innocence or guilt but that she would be impaired in her performance by such a heavy legal cloud (Hurdle Jon, New York Times, 9/21/2015).

Rick Mariano

A former member of the Philadelphia City Council, Rick Mariano was arrested in 2005 on charges that he exchanged political favors to pay off over $23,000 of his credit card bills. Mariano, in turn, provided help with city services and agencies to businessmen who paid his bills. He went to prison in August 2006 (http://articles.philly.com/2005-10-22/news/25443058_1_federal-probe-collar-public-officials, Rick Mariano don't let sympathy cloud the facts, 10/22/2005).

Robert McCord

As the Treasurer of Pennsylvania from January 2, 2009 to January 30, 2015, McCord announced his resignation on January 30, 2015. On February 17, 2015, McCord pleaded guilty to two counts of extortion. McCord engaged in quid pro quos - giving something in return for something - during his campaigns for treasurer and governor. One of those alleged quid pro quos was orchestrated in late 2013 by John H. Estey, the onetime chief of staff to former Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell. Unbeknownst to McCord at the time, Estey was cooperating with federal authorities after being caught in a federal corruption sting, and was surreptitiously recording his conversations.

Estey, McCord said, was ostensibly helping him raise campaign money from a businessman. In return for the donation, McCord said, he agreed to help that businessman's son get Treasury contracts, among other official favors.

The Inquirer has reported that in September 2013, Estey created a political action committee called the Enterprise Fund. According to public records, the Enterprise Fund raised $125,000 over four days in late 2013, and months later gave it all to just one candidate: McCord.

McCord was the star-witness in Chester County businessman Richard Ireland trial alleging attempted bribes to McCord through campaign donations, as well as a job in the private sector, in exchange for McCord's help in landing multimillion-dollar state contracts.

Jim McGreevey

In early 2002, McGreevey was criticized for appointing Israeli national Golan Cipel as homeland security adviser even though he lacked experience or other qualifications for the position. Cipel resigned but threats from his lawyers about sexual harassment lawsuits prompted McGreevey to announce, on August 12, 2004, that he was gay and would resign the governorship (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_McGreevey, 10/14/2015).

James Tayoun

Philadelphia City Councilman James J. Tayoun pleaded guilty to racketeering, mail-fraud, tax- evasion and obstruction-of-justice.

While serving as a lobbyist in the mid-'80s when he was between terms on Council, Tayoun allegedly paid about $30,000 in bribes to then-City Councilman Leland Beloff and to Beloff aide Robert Rego for legislation to benefit real estate developers and others who were Tayoun's clients.

Tayoun secretly and illegally received about $20,000 from his associate lobbyist, Barbara A. Williams, or about half the fees she collected, between November 1988 and October 1989 (Smith, Jim, Philadelphia Daily News, 5/17/1991).

Robert Torricelli

He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1996 from the state on New Jersey, defeating Republican Congressman Dick Zimmer to obtain the seat vacated by the retirement of Democratic Senator Bill Bradley.

The Justice Department won guilty pleas from six donors who had made illegal contributions to Torricelli's 1996 Senate campaign. Late in an increasingly competitive race against Republican Doug Forrester in 2002, Torricelli suddenly withdrew after disclosure of illegal contributions to his campaign by David Chang, a businessman connected to North Korea. Chang is serving 18 months in prison after pleading guilty to making illegal campaign contributions. During his court case, he told investigators that he gave the senator Italian suits and an $8,100 Rolex watch, among other gifts, in return for Torricelli's intervention in business deals in North and South Korea. Torricelli had previously denied this and a number of other charges. On July 30, 2002, Torricelli received a formal letter of admonishment from the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Ethics, for his involvement with David Chang, and for the acceptance of gifts including a CD player, television, and earrings(Cameron, Carl, Fox News, Torricelli drops out of November election, 10/1/2002).

Seth Williams

On March 22nd 2017, Philadelphia DA Seth Williams was indicted on 23 counts of corruption. In spite of a salary of over $170,000, Williams felt compelled to sell the office of the district attorney to cover his lush lifestyle. Amongst his many lavish gifts one received an abundance amount of media attention was a free $45,000 roof repair on his home from a New Jersey builder. Following is a list of the lavish gifts he received:

• $175,000 of gifts received
• A new roof
• $3,000 trip to the Dominican Republic
• Trip to Punta Cana
• Eagles sideline passes
• The use of a defense attorneys home in Florida
• Trips to foreign locales
• Jaguar convertible $305 Louis Vuitton necktie
• Burberry watch

If that was not enough, Williams syphoned $20,000 of his own mother's Social Security and pension income. This money was to be used to pay for nursing home expenses.

Perhaps the most damaging charge in the 50-page indictment was a text message exchange between Williams and a business owner. According to the indictment, the business owner provided Williams with trips to Punta Cana, Domincan republic; an iPad and a couch. While there the business man asked for William's help with a friend who was being investigated by the District attorney's Office.

Mayor Kenney called was quoted saying that William's actions were "deeply shameful" and a "flagrant violation of the law."

"At a time when our citizens trust in government is at an all-time low. It is disheartening to see yet another elected official (you mean elected democrat official) give a reason not to trust us. That this comes at the head of our justice system is even more troubling."

This case extremely disappointing because Seth Williams did many good things in his 10 year tenor as district attorney (see Kathleen Kane below). He struck a balance that appealed to both republican and democrats as well as black and white voters. Many believed that he was on a path to become mayor of Philadelphia or the state's first African American attorney general.

Don't feel too sorry for Seth Williams, I'm sure he'll find a way to keep a "roof" over his head.