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Former Philadelphia District Attorney Gets 5 Years in Prison for Accepting Bribe

 Philadelphia District Attorney

Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams speaks during a news conference in Philadelphia.  (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Philadelphia’s former top prosecutor has been sentenced to five years in prison for accepting a bribe.

Seth Williams was sentenced Tuesday by a federal judge who said he sold his office to “parasites.” The judge ordered Williams imprisoned immediately.

The former district attorney didn’t speak much during the hearing. His lawyer read a statement in which he apologized and said he “squandered” the trust placed in him.

He pleaded guilty in June to one count of accepting a bribe from a businessman. The plea came two weeks into a trial that involved damaging testimony about money and gifts showered on him.

The two-term Democrat was the city’s first black DA.

He also spent years as an assistant prosecutor and was tasked with rooting out corruption as the city’s inspector general.

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