History of corruption in Philadelphia politics
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- From the days of the ABSCAM scandal of the late 1970s to the conviction of the city's most powerful and longest serving congressman Chaka Fattah, Philadelphia politics has been no stranger to corruption.
Fattah was convicted last June in a federal racketeering and bribery case.
He served 11 terms in congress and is now serving 10 years in prison.
For decades, Vince Fumo reigned among local Democrats in the state legislature.
In 2009, he was convicted on federal corruption charges and served about two years of a five years sentence.
And from the halls of city council, there were two notable cases.
City councilman Leland Beloff was convicted in 1987 for extortion in a plot with a former mob boss.
And there was the 1991 arrest of Jimmy Tayoun, who accepted money in exchange for political favors. He served three years and then wrote a book on how to survive prison.
Which brings us to Thursday, when Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams pleaded guilty to one count of accepting a bribe. He immediately resigned from his position.
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