Dem Rep Gets 10 Years For Money Laundering And Bribery

• Former U.S. Rep Chaka  Fattah has been sentenced to 10 years for a racketeering scheme that included money laundering and bribery.
• Prosecutors say he also used $27,000 in charity funds to pay down his son's college loans and took an $18,000 bribe to help a friend become an ambassador.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Latest on the sentencing of former U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah (all times local):

Former U.S. Rep Chaka (SHAH'-kuh) Fattah has been sentenced to 10 years for a racketeering scheme that included money laundering and bribery.

U.S. District Judge Harvey Bartle called the Philadelphia Democrat's crimes “astonishing” given that he and his TV anchor wife had a $500,000 annual income that put them at or near the “top 1 percent.”

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The jury found the 60-year-old now-ousted congressman took an illegal $1 million loan to prop up a failed 2007 run for Philadelphia mayor. Fattah then repaid it with funds that included NASA grant money steered through an education nonprofit run by former staffers.

Prosecutors say he also used $27,000 in charity funds to pay down his son's college loans and took an $18,000 bribe to help a friend become an ambassador.

Fattah insists the Justice Department racketeering case is politically motivated.

A Philadelphia Democrat who spent two decades in Congress could spend that long in prison if federal prosecutors get their way.

The decision day for 60-year-old Chaka (SHAH'-kuh) Fattah comes after he was convicted of misspending federal grants and charity money to fund his campaign and personal expenses.

Fattah's sentencing is set for Monday.

The jury found he took an illegal $1 million loan to prop up a failed 2007 run for Philadelphia mayor. Fattah then repaid it with funds that included NASA grant money steered through an education nonprofit run by former staffers.

Prosecutors say he also used $27,000 in charity funds to pay down his son's college loans and took an $18,000 bribe to help a friend become an ambassador.

Fattah insists the Justice Department racketeering case is politically motivated.

Source: Associated Press