[JURIST] The US Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website] on Wednesday announced [press release] the indictment of US Congressman Chaka Fattah (D-PA) [official website] for his alleged role in a racketeering conspiracy. Fattah, along with four of his associates, were charged in a 29-count indictment including crimes such as bribery, conspiracy to commit mail fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud. Assistant Attorney General Leslie Caldwell [official profile] stated:

When elected officials betray the trust and confidence placed in them by the public, the department will do everything we can to ensure that they are held accountable. Public corruption takes a particularly heavy toll on our democracy because it undermines people’s basic belief that our elected leaders are committed to serving the public interest, not to lining their own pockets.

Fattah defended himself in his own statement [press release], claiming that the charges are “misguided.” He stated, “I have never participated in any illegal activity or misappropriation of taxpayer dollars as an elected official.”

The charges stem [Philly.com timeline] from 2007 when Fattah lost the primary mayoral race of Philadelphia to Michael Nutter. There had been speculation for years afterwards in regards to misuse of campaign funds and other corruption crimes committed during the mayoral campaign. In March 2013 the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) [official website] launched an official investigation into the matter. In August 2014 Gregory Naylor, a longtime former aide of Fattah, plead guilty [plea, PDF] to a number of federal fraud charges. In November 2014 another aide to Fattah, Thomas Lindenfeld, plead guilty [DOJ press release] to conspiracy to commit wire fraud for agreeing to route an illegal $1 million political contribution for Fattah during the 2007 campaign.