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.
