Name That Party: Sen. LeAnna Washington to plead guilty, lawyer says

10/28/2014

Walking from arraignment at Montgomery County District Court in Abington to be processed, state prosecutors bring corruption charges against longtime Philadelphia area legislator LeAnna Washington, Wednesday March 12, 2014. ( DAVID SWANSON / Staff Photographer )

State Sen. LeAnna Washington will plead guilty to accusations that she used taxpayer resources to plan political fund-raisers, her attorney said in court Friday.

Washington, a Democrat who represents parts of Philadelphia and Montgomery County, faces two felony charges of theft of services and conflict of interest. At a hearing planned for Thursday or Friday, she will plead guilty to one or both charges, lawyer Henry Hockeimer said.

It's unclear whether her negotiated plea will include jail time. Senior Deputy Attorney General Susan DiGiacomo said lawyers would finalize the paperwork Monday.

If she had gone to trial and been convicted of both counts, Washington, 69, could have faced up to 12 years in jail.

Her case drew headlines this year as much for the allegations as for the portrait they painted of the longtime legislator. A grand jury report said Washington had berated her chief of staff when he questioned the propriety of ordering her staff to do political work on government time.

"I am the f-ing senator, I do what the f- I want, and ain't nobody going to change me," she told him, according to his grand jury testimony. "I have been doing it like this for 17 years. So stop trying to change me."

In the spring, she lost her primary bid for reelection.

The senator didn't attend Friday's proceeding. She has rarely appeared in court since the grand jury found in March that she had ordered Senate staff to plan her annual birthday party from 2005 to 2013. The parties, typically held in Fairmount Park in late July, were her largest source of campaign funds.

The grand jury estimated that between staff salaries and use of Senate printers and other resources, Washington had used from $30,000 to $100,000 in taxpayer money for political gain.

The case has been languishing for months as Washington's attorneys filed pretrial motions and hearings have been postponed. Among other things, Washington tried to have the trial moved from Montgomery County to Philadelphia.

Montgomery County Court Judge Steven T. O'Neill had set Friday as a deadline for Washington to plead guilty or he would set a trial date.

Hockeimer would not comment on the plea deal after the hearing in Norristown. "We'll see what happens when we have the proceedings," he said.

Washington has kept a low profile - in Harrisburg and in her district - since the charges were filed. Regardless of the outcome of this case, she will leave office this year after more than two decades as a state legislator: She lost the Democratic primary to Cheltenham Township Commissioner Art Haywood.

In addition to the criminal case, Washington is battling a civil lawsuit from the former staffer who alerted prosecutors to her alleged misconduct.

Sean McCray, the senator's former chief of staff, seeks more than $700,000 in damages, alleging wrongful termination, defamation, and emotional distress. McCray alleges that the senator slashed his salary, berated him in front of office staff, and fired him for blowing the whistle on what he felt was an illegal use of staff time.

In her response to the civil suit, Washington claims "high public official immunity" but does not dispute that any of the alleged campaign activities occurred on Senate time.

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