Feds to judge: Put Seth Williams away for 5 years

Federal prosecutors on Monday urged a judge to send former Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams to prison for five years — the maximum term allowable under the law — at his sentencing hearing next week.

In a memo to U.S. District Judge Paul S. Diamond, government lawyers described the city's fallen top prosecutor as a crooked politician who took every opportunity to enrich himself through fraud, theft from his campaign fund, and bribes accepted from generous donors.

"Williams' crimes demand notable punishment," wrote Assistant U.S. Attorneys Robert Zauzmer, Vineet Gauri, and Eric Moran. "He was the custodian of public trust in the District Attorney's Office. … But Williams used his position … to serve interests that were even more important to him: his own personal interests."

Williams' lawyer, Thomas Burke, did not respond to requests for comment Monday. He is expected to file his own recommendation for punishment with the court before the Oct. 24 sentencing hearing.

The stiff sentencing recommendation from prosecutors was not unexpected — and it may take little argument on their part to convince the judge.

Diamond did little to disguise his disgust this summer as he ordered Williams to be taken into custody immediately after the former district attorney abruptly resigned and agreed to plead guilty two weeks into his trial.

"He betrayed his office and he sold his office," the judge said then. "I am appalled by the evidence that I have heard."

Under the terms of his plea deal, Williams admitted to a single violation of the Travel Act, stemming from bribes he accepted from a wealthy donor to his campaign, and the 28 other charges against him — ranging bribery to fraud — were dropped.

The agreement severely curtailed the maximum punishment Williams could have received. But it also required him to confess to all the crimes the government had alleged he committed so that those admissions could be used against him at his sentencing.

Even if he is sentenced to the maximum five-year term, Williams imprisonment will be roughly on par with other recent Philadelphia politicians convicted of corruption. Former State Sen. Vincent J. Fumo was sentenced to slightly more than five years, while disgraced City Councilman Rick Mariano received 6½ for bribery in 2006. At the extreme end of that spectrum of shame, ex-U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah was put away last year for the next decade after his conviction on bribery, fraud, and related charges.

Witnesses at Williams' trial painted the district attorney as a shameless moocher who repeatedly sought others' money to support a lifestyle he couldn't afford.

Two wealthy businessmen testified that they showered Williams with gifts of cash, luxury goods, and all-expenses-paid travel to an upscale Dominican Republic resort and other vacation spots, hoping that he would repay their generosity by using his office to remove various legal hurdles they faced.

When that largesse wasn't enough to support Williams' high-end tastes, witnesses said, the district attorney raided his own campaign accounts and money that had been set aside for his aging mother's nursing home care.

In their sentencing memo Monday, prosecutors noted that throughout the period that Williams was habitually taking from others, he was consistently earning a six-figure salary as district attorney.

In 2015, he reported more than $200,000 in annual income on his tax returns, which included not only his salary but compensation for teaching law school classes and his service in the U.S. Army Reserve.

"Despite these impressive earnings, far beyond those of the vast majority of his constituents, he lived from paycheck to paycheck, amassing no savings and failing to qualify for any credit," prosecutors wrote Monday. "This is because he chose a lifestyle he could not afford."

In addition to the prison term, prosecutors are recommending that Williams pay nearly $100,000 in forfeiture and restitution — an amount Williams at least partially agreed to in his plea deal.