Mayor Nutter & U.S. Attorney Announce Indictments

Mayor Nutter has stressed since taking office last year his administration's determination to crack down on ethics violations and cooperate with federal investigators on corruption cases.  To that end, Mayor Nutter is about to host a news conference with U.S. Attorney Laurie Magid on two indictments unsealed today.

* Brenda Wilkins, a 62-year-old real estate specialist with the Philadelphia Housing Development Corp., is accused of using her job in 2005 to transfer ownership of a PHDC-owned property valued at $65,000 to a middleman for $1 who then sold the property for $1 to Wilkins' daughter.  Wilkins faces 24 to 30 months in prison if convicted.

* Dorena Kearney, 52, is accused of stealing $138,000 in government grants to The Colours Organization, a non-profit set up in the city in 1991 to establish "progressive educational advocacy and support mechanisms" for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people of color.  Kearney, of Lindenwold, N.J.,  has been the agency's executive director since 2004. The thefts apparently occured between 2004 and 2007. She is accused of using agency credit cards for personal expenses like a vacation cruise and dog grooming.  She faces 12 to 18 months in prison if convicted.