Ex-Connecticut death row inmates transferred to Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Daybook

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The FBI has questioned the Philadelphia district attorney's staffers after their boss belatedly filed government reports showing he has received $160,000 in gifts, including a new roof, a $2,700 couch and luxury vacations, his spokesman said. Cameron Kline, a spokesman for District Attorney Seth Williams, told The Philadelphia Inquirer he doesn't know how many staffers spoke with the FBI, nor can he say when that happened or what they were asked. Williams' attorney Samuel Stretton has said the Democratic prosecutor made a "terrible mistake" by not reporting the gifts sooner, which included $45,000 worth of home improvements and roof repair, along with free trips to the Florida Keys, Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic and Thailand. Stretton says he's trying to negotiate a settlement with state and city ethics agencies over the late reporting fines. Federal agents last year subpoenaed records from Williams' political action committee, but haven't charged anyone. Williams, 49, accepts responsibility for the reporting misstep, Stretton said. Williams is running for a third four-year term next year. The job pays $175,000 a year. Williams told Philadelphia Magazine last month that he "can barely pay (his) bills" amid alimony, child support and private school tuition payments. He earns additional money serving in the Army National Guard and teaching law on the side, the financial reports show. He issued a statement through his 2017 re-election campaign after the filing, citing "the need for greater transparency." State ethics laws require public officials to file annual financial statements and list gifts of more than $250. The city requires officials to report gifts over $200 and bars them from taking gifts over $99 from anyone with an interest in any "official action." Federal bribery laws typically involve a "quid pro quo," or evidence the office-holder got something in exchange for the gift. Philadelphia criminal lawyer Richard Hoy said he has never gotten any special consideration for letting Williams and his two daughters use his five-bedroom home in Key West, Florida, during spring break for several years. "Sometimes I'm there, sometimes I'm not there," Hoy, 68, told The Associated Press on Friday. "I have never discussed (my) cases with him. I have discussed them with his subordinates," said Hoy, who said he handles mostly drunken driving and low-level criminal cases. Williams' reported gifts also include sideline passes for Philadelphia Eagles games from 2011 to 2015, nearly $21,000 in free airfare for vacations and $10,000 in travel expenses for a fellowship program in Australia and South Africa. Williams this year declined to charge former standout LeSean McCoy over a nightclub fight between his group and off-duty police officers. The amended reports also lists a $6,500 Rolex watch from a girlfriend and lower-level items such as boxing classes and free lawn mowing. Williams joined the Philadelphia district attorney's office in 1992. He was appointed the city's inspector general in 2005 and was responsible for overseeing investigations into corruption, fraud, waste, abuse and employee misconduct among city employees and contractors. He was elected the city's first black district attorney in 2009. In one case, he brought corruption charges against former city Traffic Court Judge Thomasina Tynes, who acknowledged taking a $2,000 Tiffany bracelet from an informant as she promised to help him land a government contract. Williams criticized then-Attorney General Kathleen Kane for not prosecuting the FBI sting case of Tynes and several state lawmakers. Tynes' lawyer, Louis Busico, on Friday called Williams' gifts "a troubling and disturbing coincidence," but said it would be inappropriate to comment further. Williams also listed gifts from another friend who has contact with his office, Common Pleas Court Judge Scott DiClaudio. The two have known each other since high school. DiClaudio, who formerly worked as a criminal defense attorney in Philadelphia, told the Inquirer he gave gifts "completely out of the friendship we have enjoyed for three decades." He declined to comment to the AP.

FBI questions staffers as Philly DA reports $160K in gifts