Philly Pay-To-Play

As I've commented on before, John Street's second term would be filled with scandal. Today it kicked into full gear:

Among those indicted were Ron White (pictured, left), a politically powerful lawyer who is friend of and political contributor to Mayor John Street, and Corey Kemp, a former city treasurer.

Philadelphia Mayor John F. Street has not been charged, and disputed claims in the indictment that he told city employees to go out of their way to favor companies represented by White when they were seeking city business.

"I don't call people at the pension board," Street said. "I don't call people in these various departments and tell them who to give business to, and tell them who not to give business to. That's just not the way I've ever done any business here."

Street said he gets almost all his information from his own cabinet, and it's rare for him to phone someone other than a cabinet member.

White, 54, faces 34 counts related to fraud, extortion, and making false statements to the FBI. He faces a maximum sentence of 555 years in prison and an $8.25 million fine.

Kemp, 34, faces 28 counts related to fraud, extortion, making false statements to a bank, money laundering, and filing a false tax return. He faces a maximum sentence of 798 years in jail and a $10.7 million fine.

The indictment alleges that from January 2002 through October 2003, White "corrupted" former city Treasurer Corey Kemp by making payments to him.

This is the beginning of the bloodletting. Stay tuned.