Ex-Philadelphia district attorney gets 5-year term for bribe

PHILADELPHIA » Former District Attorney Seth Williams, a career prosecutor who chased down municipal corruption but whose tenure as Philadelphia’s first black DA was mired in a corruption scandal, was sentenced Tuesday to five years in prison for accepting a bribe.

The two-term Democrat didn’t speak during the hearing and instead had his attorney read a statement in which he apologized and said he had failed the people of Philadelphia.

“Rather than holding myself to a higher standard, I squandered that trust placed in me,” the statement said. As his lawyer read it, Williams’ face grew flush and he wiped away tears with a tissue.

U.S. District Judge Paul Diamond said the 50-yearold Williams “humiliated” his office and the city by selling it to “parasites.”

“Your profound dishonesty has to be deterred,” Diamond said before ordering that Williams be imprisoned immediately.

A nearly two-year investigation into Williams’ financial affairs resulted in a wideranging indictment in which he was charged with accepting cash and gifts, fraudulently using thousands of dollars from his campaign fund for personal expenses, misusing city vehicles and misappropriating money intended to fund his mother’s nursing home care.

Two weeks into his June trial, amid damaging testimony about how he accepted perks such as a lavish Caribbean vacation and a Jaguar convertible, Williams pleaded guilty to a single count of accepting a bribe from a businessman who admitted giving him a $3,000 sofa and thousands of dollars in cash payments.

He had been charged with 29 counts of bribery, extortion and fraud. Although 28 counts were dismissed, prosecutors said Williams admitted he committed all the conduct.

Williams first won office in 2009. He named his chief of staff, Kathleen Martin, as acting district attorney after his indictment in March forced him to surrender his law license. Civil rights attorney Larry Krasner won the Democratic nomination to succeed him and, in this overwhelmingly Democratic city, is the heavy favorite in the fall election against Republican Beth Grossman.