U.S. corruption indictment of Allentown, Pennsylvania mayor unsealed

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

#POLITICS
JULY 26, 2017 / 1:14 PM / 25 MINUTES AGO

U.S. corruption indictment of Pennsylvania mayor unsealed

David DeKok

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - The longtime mayor of Allentown, the third largest city in Pennsylvania, has been charged with corruption in a pay-for-play scheme, according to a federal indictment unsealed on Wednesday.

Edwin Pawlowski, a Democrat who is running for re-election to a fourth term as mayor, was among three people accused of bribery, extortion, wire fraud and other charges in a 55-count indictment. He is the latest city official ensnared in a broad federal probe that has seen seven convictions already.

The 60-page indictment was unsealed on Wednesday just hours before the U.S. Attorney's office in Philadelphia was scheduled to discuss the charges at a 1:30 p.m. EDT (1730 GMT) news conference.

Pawlowski was previously implicated in a scheme to steer contracts to at least one company whose executives had contributed thousands of dollars to the mayor's political action committee (PAC), according to court papers.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-pennsylvania-corruption-idUSKBN1AB2F6

[Victor_c3]

1. I say hit with everything the law can

Abuse of power for personal gain is not at all acceptable - especially within our own political party.