Mr. Williams will join many of his fellow corruptocrat cronies in federal prison.
PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia’s top prosecutor was charged Tuesday with taking more than $160,000 in luxury gifts, Caribbean trips and cash, often in exchange for official favors that included help with a court case, according to a bribery and extortion indictment unsealed Tuesday.
The indictment caps a nearly two-year investigation into Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams’ financial affairs. Williams, a Democrat and career prosecutor who earns $175,000 in the top job, has said he ran into financial trouble after a divorce and while paying private school tuition for his daughters.
The indictment described gifts that included stays he took with his then-girlfriend in a presidential suite of a Punta Cana resort; a custom $3,400 sofa; and a used Jaguar convertible, with insurance coverage to match.
In exchange, authorities said, he offered to help a friend’s friend seek a reduced jail sentence in a criminal case run by his office, and took $7,000 for helping a business owner friend meet with an airport police official in an attempt to avoid enhanced screening when returning to the U.S. from foreign trips.
Williams also spent $10,000 from a joint account he shared with a relative meant for the relative’s nursing home costs, the indictment said.
Williams was spending Tuesday huddled with family, a spokesman said, and was expected to surrender and be arraigned on the charges Wednesday. Defense lawyer Michael Diamondstein said they would vigorously defend the charges.