Some criminal politicians are disgraceful right up to the end.
Take former Massachusetts State Senator Dianne Wilkerson who was sentenced Thursday in Boston federal court to 3 1/2 years in prison for taking $23,000 in bribes to help secure a liquor license for a nightclub and for legislation to grease the skids for commercial development in her district.
You might recall she was photographed in an FBI sting stuffing $100 bills in her bra at a restaurant near the state house. She could have at least asked for a doggy bag instead to sock away the cash.
On Thursday, she said, sure I did wrong but…..
Yes, But. But. But….After sentencing, she told reporters, according to Jonathan Saltzman at the Boston Globe, that federal prosecutors were corrupt and went after her and former Boston councilor Chuck Turner because they were outspoken. Turner was convicted of a taking $1,000 payoff in the same FBI sting.
“Chuck Turner and I have always been about the same business,” she said, according to the Globe. “Some in positions of power were threatened by our actions, and as a result we became targets.”
She went on to blast the “despicable actions of the government and its collaborators,” according to the Globe.
Sadly, Wilkerson was a crook, plain and simple. And sadly, she still can’t fess up to it. There was no noble thing going on. She was just stuffing her pockets (or her bra). Another crooked politician — and perhaps a delusional one at that.
Sadly, she had had other problems in the past. In 1997, she was convicted for failing to file her income taxes for two years, the Globe reported. And she had other ethical lapses as well.
Maybe prison will give her time to rethink her noble gesture of taking bribes.
See Original Press Conference
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FnEBm_F8xc
