Farnese acquitted of corruption charges in federal trial

February 2, 2017

Metro Philly
By Sam Newhouse

A Democratic state senator from Philadelphia beat the U.S. government Wednesday and walked out of federal court after being acquitted of corruption charges.


Mark B. Sheppard, Farnese’s attorney, said the key to the case was persuading the jury that the gift to committee member Ellen Chapman was just an example of “a politician who was helping a constituent.”

“They saw what we saw from the beginning — there was no crime here and this was just a public official helping a deserving young woman,” Sheppard said in a statement.


Farnese was accused of using cash from his campaign and listing it on a campaign-finance report as a “donation.”

But defense attorneys argued there was nothing wrong with the donation, even though Chapman, one of about 50 committee members, acknowledged that she changed her support in the Eight Ward leader vote after getting the gift.


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Farnese is represented by Montgomery McCracken partner Mark B. Sheppard.