This is the Democratic Party's version of distinguished service.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah, 58, and four associates were charged with bribery; conspiracy to commit wire, honest services, bank and mail fraud; money laundering and other charges.
Here's how Nancy Pelosi reacted.
“Congressman Fattah has been a tireless and effective advocate for America’s hard-working families across more than 20 years of distinguished service in the House,” she said in a statement.
Now he's facing another 20 years of distinguished service in prison.
A Philadelphia jury delivered a guilty verdict on Tuesday for Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-Pa.), who was convicted on 29 separate federal charges related to bribery, money laundering, fraud and racketeering.
Fattah, 59, who lost his primary bid in April, gave no indication he planned to resign from his seat in Congress.
He faces the prospect of spending the rest of his life in prison following Tuesday’s conviction. Several of the charges he was convicted on carry sentences of 20 years each.
“Today’s decision notwithstanding, it has been my privilege to serve the constituents of the Second Congressional District for over 20 years,” Fattah said in a statement released hours after the verdict.
It certainly has. Here's how Fattah was serving them.
Fattah secured at least $10 million in federal money for EAA through congressional "earmarks" between fiscal 2008 and 2010, the years when such requests were publicly linked to individual members of Congress. In 2007, the Daily News reported that EAA had received about $8 million in federal earmarks over the previous five years.
Records show that between 2001 and 2011 EAA paid more than $1 million to Karen Nicholas, a former Fattah staffer who had served as its president and CEO and is identified as "Person A" in the Naylor case.
Other people who have appeared on EAA's payroll since 2001 include: Nicholas' cousin Sheronda Ball ($212,567 in three years), former Fattah staffer Roger Jackson ($223,000 in two years), former John Street campaign manager Shawn Fordham ($137,750 in two years) and former Fattah aide James Mitchell ($95,000 in one year).
Last year, Cheryl Mobley, who was Fattah's chief of staff in the state Senate, was sentenced to house arrest for failing to pay federal taxes. Prosecutors said EAA improperly used federal grants to pay Mobley nearly $107,000 in 2005 and 2006. She drove a luxury van with a foldout leather sofa and flat-screen TV, but told the judge that she was studying for a divinity degree, according to the Inquirer.
Public service. It's a truly noble calling.