Coming just days before an election that could have saved her political career, Mass. state Sen. Diane Wilkerson was implicated in a corruption scandal that will likely end much more than her time in office.
Long-term Senator Accepted Bribes
The FBI caught many of the payments, which came from a number of dining establishments and developers, on video and audio recordings after being tipped off last year.
Most notably, the surveillance camera caught Wilkerson stuffing $1,000 in cash into her undergarments.
The investigation found that Wilkerson had accepted money in exchange for clearing alcohol licenses and presenting legislation that would have allowed for an increase in the number of restaurants in Boston.
Undoubtedly damaging to any political figure, the federal investigation is just the latest in a long line of professional missteps by the popular and controversial state senator, and could mean an end to her life in public service.
Dogged by legal troubles throughout her career, most notably stemming from an outstanding tax bill in the late 1990s, Wilkerson’s public life took a decidedly negative turn during this year’s Democratic primary.