Mass. legislator charged with corruption

BOSTON, Oct. 28 (UPI) -- A Massachusetts state senator was charged Tuesday with accepting payoffs from developers and others who sought favors.

The FBI said Dianne Wilkerson was surreptitiously videotaped hiding cash in her bra during a meeting at a restaurant with someone who, unknown to her, was a government informant. In another incident, she allegedly brought a grandson to a meeting at a restaurant near the Massachusetts State House where she received $1,000.

Wilkerson, who lost in the Democratic primary after representing a Boston district for 10 years, had been trying to keep her seat through a sticker campaign.

Investigators say that Wilkerson took payoffs from a nightclub in her district that was seeking a liquor license and from a developer seeking access to state-owned land. She allegedly told the nightclub owner that she had called Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, who has not been accused of doing anything wrong, and got his promise that the club would get a license to serve beer and wine until a full liquor license became available.