Pennsylvania congressman convicted in racketeering case

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A veteran Pennsylvania congressman was convicted Tuesday in a racketeering case that largely centered on various efforts to repay an illegal $1 million campaign loan related to his unsuccessful 2007 mayoral bid.

Prosecutors said Fattah routed federal grant money and nonprofit funds through his consultants to pay back the illegal loan.

Defense lawyers acknowledged Fattah might have gotten himself in financial trouble after a costly mayoral bid, but they said any help from friends amounted to gifts, not bribes.

The other co-defendants are Bonnie Bowser, of Philadelphia, who ran his district office; Karen Nicholas, of Williamstown, New Jersey, who ran the education nonprofit Fattah started; and Robert Brand, of Philadelphia, a businessman married to a former Fattah staffer.

Under the House's Code of Conduct, a lawmaker who is convicted is not to vote in committee or in the full House if the punishment for his conviction may be two or more years' imprisonment.

Prior to Fattah's conviction, the House Ethics committee had impaneled an investigative subcommittee and, at the request of the Justice Department, deferred action.