Posted on 07/01/2004 5:16:23 AM PDT by randita
Posted on Thu, Jul. 01, 2004
White, Kemp deny charges
By Emilie Lounsberry, Leonard N. Fleming and Marcia Gelbart Inquirer Staff Writers
Ronald A. White and former City Treasurer Corey Kemp pleaded not guilty yesterday to charges leveled in a sweeping corruption indictment, and White said federal authorities had "taken a genuine friendship and tried to portray it as something corrupt and manipulative."
White and Kemp, with two other defendants, were in court the day after prosecutors asserted that White showered Kemp with money and gifts, and that Kemp, in return, allowed White to call the shots on who got city business.
"I would do anything to help him, and he would do anything to help me out," White, heading into court, said of Kemp. "Corey has never asked me one thing in exchange for any business."
Twelve people, including White, Kemp, two Commerce Bank officials, three investment bankers, and a Detroit businessman, were charged in the 150-page indictment, which painted a harsh portrait of Philadelphia's political system and the "pay-to-play" tradition in which campaign donors get access to lucrative city contracts.
Mayor Street, meanwhile, said the charges highlight the need for statewide campaign-finance reform "in order to do something about pay for play" in the state, and he called on Gov. Rendell and the state legislature to take action.
He characterized as "enormously troubling" some of the allegations in the indictment.
"It's the kind of thing that should never happen, and certainly you don't want to see it happen in connection with anything you're about," said the mayor, who was reelected just weeks after the corruption inquiry became public with the discovery of an FBI bug in his City Hall office.
Street, who prosecutors said was not likely to be charged, flatly denied a key assertion in the indictment: that he had instructed his staff to provide White with inside information and to award city business White sought to the firms White touted if the firms were qualified.
City Controller Jonathan Saidel also weighed in on how the city should respond. He pressed for stronger internal controls over bond deals and other financial transactions. In a letter to the city's finance director and acting city treasurer, he asked that his office be given the power to monitor the cost of debt transactions.
And state House Speaker John M. Perzel (R., Phila.) predicted that the indictment would hurt the mayor's ability to govern.
"Does it weaken the mayor? If his personal friends are all locked up, yeah, I think it weakens the mayor," Perzel said. "He's got this cloud over his head, whether it's warranted or not."
Now that the corruption investigation is headed for the courtroom, defense lawyers said they viewed the indictment as an effort to pressure some of the defendants to cooperate and provide evidence for other corruption cases.
Kemp's lawyer, Michael McGovern, said he believed that prosecutors did not view Tuesday's indictment as the end. "They see it as a domino effect," said McGovern, who also said he expected that Kemp's case would go to trial.
"I'm preparing for trial, but I am aware that the indications are that the government has not closed the door on other higher targets," he said.
William A. DeStefano, who represents investment banker Denis Carlson and called the charges against his client a "big stretch," said he also believed that prosecutors had other targets in mind and that they would like those indicted this week to start cooperating.
"Here, I think they're trying to force people to give information and trade up to get bigger fish," DeStefano said.
One defendant, lawyer Rhonda Anderson, is already cooperating, her lawyer said. "We have signed a plea agreement. She hopes to put this behind her and we hope that her cooperation will mitigate the penalty," said defense lawyer Joseph Grimes.
Defense attorney Christopher Warren, who represents White, said that prosecutors had all but provided an "engraved invitation" for other defendants to cooperate.
He said that White had done nothing illegal.
"He is doing precisely what is being done by other firms and other lawyers right now," Warren said outside the federal courthouse at Sixth and Market.
There, in a small, fifth-floor courtroom before U.S. Magistrate Judge James Melinson, White and Kemp uttered but two words, "not guilty," as a court clerk read the litany of conspiracy, mail fraud, wire fraud and extortion charges against them.
Two other defendants also pleaded not guilty: the Rev. Frank D. McCracken, pastor of St. James Chapel Church of God in Christ in Reading, who is charged with mail fraud, and Carlson, who is accused of lying to the FBI. Carlson has worked for a subsidiary of Commerce Bank and also has served through the years as adviser to Street and other political officials.
All four were released pending trial after agreeing to surrender any passports and firearms; to avoid any unapproved contacts with codefendants and potential witnesses; and to restrict their travel to the eastern part of Pennsylvania.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Zauzmer said that White wanted permission to meet with codefendant Janice Renee Knight, described in the indictment as his longtime paramour. Zauzmer said the prosecution had no objection.
Warren said White also wanted to travel periodically to New York - a request that also was approved.
McCracken's lawyer, Jeffrey M. Lindy, said that Kemp was a member of his client's church so they would be at Sunday services together, but Lindy said they would not discuss the case.
Arraignments for other defendants - Commerce Bank Pennsylvania president Glenn K. Holck, Commerce regional vice president Stephen M. Umbrell, and Knight - are set for tomorrow.
The indictment contends that Holck and Umbrell provided "favorable and otherwise unavailable" bank loans to Kemp.
Yesterday, defense attorney Kevin H. Marino, who represents Holck, said his client had done nothing wrong.
Lawrence Lustberg, who represents Umbrell, said the bank would prove that loans to Kemp were made within legal business standards.
Outside the federal courthouse, White, accompanied by his wife, Aruby Odom-White, and daughter Simone, said he believed the government has a "difficult time understanding the culture in the African American community," and perhaps misunderstood his friendship with Kemp.
"I am just telling you that Corey and I have a friendship. I would do anything I can for Corey and I'm sure that he would do the same for me," White said.
McGovern, fighting his way through the cameras and microphones of news reporters, said that prosecutors would soon start turning over to defense lawyers the volumes of evidence gathered by the FBI and the IRS during the inquiry.
And McGovern said he was ready for the haul.
"I expect it will be about the size of a small SUV," he said.
Contact staff writer Emilie Lounsberry at 215-854-4828 or elounsberry@phillynews.com. Contributing to this article were Inquirer staff writers George Anastasia, Cynthia Burton, Mario F. Cattabiani and John Shiffman.
© 2004 Philadelphia Inquirer and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved. http://www.philly.com
One for the ping list. Some memorable quotes in this one.
Philadelphia is a banana republic. Just what then is the "culture" we don't understand, that graft and corruption are wrong?
Is this black crooks or is this gang integrated? I can't find any photos of the perps.
Images here.
Response: Reconstruction II in action!
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