Mass. Pol Accused of Stuffing Bra With Bribes

BOSTON, Oct. 28, 2008— -- An embattled Massachusetts state senator appeared in a federal courtroom today charged with taking $23,500 in bribes, including cash that she stuffed into her bra during a meeting at a tony Boston restaurant that was secretly videotaped by an undercover FBI agent, federal prosecutors said.

Democratic state Sen. Dianne Wilkerson faces 40 years in prison after federal prosecutors outlined accusations that she accepted the bribes over an 18-month period in a money-for-legislative influence sting operation, prosecutors said. She had $6,000 in cash in her purse when she was arrested at her Roxbury home by nearly two dozen law enforcement officials, prosecutors said.

Photographs released by U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan showed Wilkerson stuffing 10 $100 bills into her bra at No. 9 Park restaurant last June. During another meeting with an undercover FBI agent two months later, Wilkerson took her granddaughter to accept a $1,000 kickback at the Fill-A-Buster restaurant, a famed political hotspot directly across the street from the Massachusetts State House, according to a 32-page affidavit filed in the case.

A federal complaint charges that Wilkerson accepted eight bribes totaling $23,500 over an 18-month period in exchange for her influence on Beacon Hill. Undercover agents posed as a property developer who wanted to build on state land, and another worked Wilkerson as a potential barroom owner willing to pay for a liquor license.

"She has a long history of acting as if she was above the law,'' said Assistant U.S. Attorney John McNeil during Wilkerson's initial appearance in court.

Wilkerson's attorney Max Stern insisted that his client was innocent. He also accused McNeil of trying to "character assassinate" Wilkerson by bringing up her past problems with the Massachusetts attorney general and campaign finance officials.

Wilkerson -– the state's only black state senator –- is a convicted tax cheat and a campaign finance scofflaw who has a long litany of legal problems that has marred her 15-year record as a lawmaker.

Earlier this month, the Massachusetts Bar began proceedings to disbar Wilkerson, an attorney, after an investigation determined that she lied and perjured herself while testifying in a Superior Courtroom on behalf of her nephew, a convicted murderer who was seeking a new trial.