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A parlor of a suite at Philadelphia&rsquo;s Barclay Hotel where the FBI conducted a &lsquo;sting&rsquo; operation is pictured in 1980. Many Philadelphia area politicians were taped here allegedly accepting bribes from FBI agents posing as representatives of a fake Arab sheik.
 
 AP FILE PHOTO 
 

The federal indictment handed down Tuesday against state Sen. Raphael Musto is the first federal charge levied against the veteran lawmaker, but the investigation leading to the charge was not his first encounter with the FBI.
In 1980, the Federal Bureau of Investigation targeted Musto in its Abscam sting operation, a controversial corruption probe that led to the convictions of a U.S. senator, and five U.S. representatives, among others. 
Musto said in 1980 that he walked away from an implied bribe from undercover FBI agents, and he was never charged as a result of the investigation.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m pleased it happened, because I&rsquo;ve been tested,&rdquo; Musto told The Times Leader of his ordeal in September 1980. &ldquo;I have been put through it. If anyone would offer me something to me that is not proper, there is no doubt in my mind what the outcome would be.&rdquo;
Thirty years later, Musto was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges that he accepted more than $38,000 in kickbacks and lied to federal agents. Federal prosecutors made the announcement Tuesday.
The veteran lawmaker, who has served as a state representative, a state senator for 28 years and as an interim U.S. congressman, has indicated he intends to take the case to trial.
In Operation Abscam, a contraction of Abdul Scam, FBI agents posed as business representatives of a fictitious Middle Eastern sheik, offering money to national and state officials to secure favors. News of the probe created controversy about the tactics employed by the FBI in sting operations.
Musto&rsquo;s encounter with the sting lasted only a day.
On Jan. 31, 1980, Musto and U.S. Rep. Michael Joseph &ldquo;Ozzie&rdquo; Myers, D-Pa., met with undercover FBI agents Michael Wald and Ernest Poulis at the Barclay Hotel in Philadelphia. At the time, Musto, who served four terms as a state representative, was a candidate in a special election to fill the 11th District U.S. Congressional seat vacated by Daniel J. Flood&rsquo;s resignation.
Myers was later convicted of accepting a $50,000 bribe from undercover agents on Aug. 22, 1979. Musto told The Times Leader in September 1980 that Myers invited him to the meeting.
&ldquo;Myers stated there were people who wanted to make big investments in my district, and since it was evident I was going to be the congressman, they wanted to assist me in my campaign,&rdquo; Musto said.
He attended the meeting as a campaigning politician seeking industrial support, he said.
According to a Times Leader&rsquo;s Sept. 1, 1980 report:
FBI agents, posing as representatives of the fictitious Arab sheik, had $25,000 in a suitcase they were ready to turn over to Musto if he helped the sheik cut through reclamation requirements in mining hard coal in Pennsylvania.
Musto said he &ldquo;never saw the money, but they kept implying there would be a big investment and big bucks if I helped.&rdquo;
An excerpted transcript of the covertly recorded meeting published by The Times Leader in September 1980 reveals that undercover agent Wald asked Musto to help influence the state Department of Environmental Resources.
Musto said he could not force a decision but could &ldquo;go to bat for&rdquo; the sheik.
Wald later said he was &ldquo;prepared to come up with a sizeable sum of money for things that we cannot foresee this evening. But for that sum, I&rsquo;ve got to have some, some help, some assurances, right?&rdquo;
Musto did not respond immediately, but later told the undercover agents, &ldquo;to be fair, I don&rsquo;t think I could say yes at this point, because I don&rsquo;t know what you&rsquo;re asking.&rdquo;
He walked out of the meeting and would not return.
Musto said he walked away from the meeting &ldquo;because it was starting to not sound proper. &hellip; I was invited back upstairs to the meeting if I wanted to go. There was no way I was going, though. Whatever they had to offer or whatever they implied was not on the up and up.&rdquo;
Musto was never charged with a crime as a result of the investigation. Myers was convicted of bribery and conspiracy, sentenced to three years in prison and expelled from the House of Representatives.

1980 Musto’s First Brush With Fbi