PHILADELPHIA _ A federal judge on Thursday overturned a jury's guilty verdicts on some charges against former U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah but preserved the conviction on the most serious count the former congressman faced in his corruption trial.
U.S. District Judge Harvey Bartle said the government had presented insufficient evidence in court to support some aspects of its case against the Philadelphia Democrat _ including that he and two key allies had committed bank fraud in their cover-up of an $18,000 bribe with the sham sale in 2012 of a Porsche owned by the congressman's wife, former Philadelphia news anchor Renee Chenault Fattah.
Still, in his 101-page opinion, U.S. District Judge Harvey Bartle upheld the jury's verdict on a racketeering conspiracy count _ the most serious of the 22 counts on which Fattah was convicted in June.
In addition, Bartle overturned some convictions for two of the ex-congressman's former political allies who had been convicted of aiding him in various crimes to extend his political career.
Thursday's ruling delivered a setback _ although a minor one _ to federal prosecutors in Philadelphia in one of their most high-profile corruption prosecutions in years.
At trial, they had painted Fattah as an arrogant lawbreaker who repeatedly turned to the money of taxpayers, charities and wealthy supporters to cover his personal and political debts _ including an illegal $1 million campaign loan, which he paid off in part with cash raided from a federally funded education charity he helped to found.
In his opinion Thursday, Bartle largely endorsed the government's view of the case and rejected defense arguments that the case should be retried due to a U.S. Supreme Court decision _ handed down in June, just days after Fattah's conviction _ that narrowed the legal definition of political bribery.
He upheld the bribery convictions of Fattah and former Philadelphia Deputy Mayor Herbert Vederman, whom the jury had found guilty of bribing Fattah for years with cash payments to the congressman's children, college tuition payments for his South African au pair, and $18,000 given to help purchase a vacation home in the Poconos.
Fattah extended his influence in Washington to help Vederman in his failed bid to land an appointment from the White House as an ambassador.
Bartle said Thursday that prosecutors had presented "overwhelming" evidence to support the quid pro quo nature of the financial relationship between the two men.
However, the judge found that their relationship was too loosely related to Fattah's other criminal schemes to include Vederman as part of the overall criminal conspiracy.
Fattah, 59, resigned his seat in Congress in June. The judge has not set a date for his sentencing.
