1. Dianne Wilkerson was born on May 2,1955 and is a convicted felon and former Democratic member of the Massachusetts Senate, representing the 2nd Suffolk District from 1993 to 2008 as the first African American female to serve in the chamber.
23 Facts About Dianne Wilkerson
1. 2.
Dianne Wilkerson was disbarred from the practice of law in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts on November 24,2010, and served a federal prison sentence from 2011 to 2013.
3.
Dianne Wilkerson graduated from High School of Commerce in Springfield.
4.
Dianne Wilkerson earned a Bachelor of Science degree in public administration from American International College in 1978, and a juris doctor from Boston College Law School in 1981.
5.
Dianne Wilkerson lost the September 2008 Democratic primary to Sonia Chang-Diaz, and on October 31,2008, announced that she was ending her write-in campaign to seek re-election in the November 4,2008, election.
6.
On November 19,2008, Dianne Wilkerson formally resigned from the Massachusetts state Senate.
7.
Dianne Wilkerson was sentenced to house arrest in December 1997 after pleading guilty to failing to pay $51,000 in federal income taxes in the early 1990s.
Related searches
Marty Walsh 8.
Dianne Wilkerson was suspended from practicing law for one year in 1999 because of the conviction and did not seek reinstatement.
9.
In September 2005, the Massachusetts Attorney General Thomas Reilly and head of the state's campaign finance office filed a lawsuit against Dianne Wilkerson, alleging she had not reported nearly $27,000 in donations and refused to explain more than $18,000 in personal reimbursements.
10.
Dianne Wilkerson agreed to pay a $10,000 fine and forgo about $30,000 in debts owed her to settle the allegations.
11.
The state Office of the Bar Counsel filed a complaint on October 3,2008, accusing Dianne Wilkerson of violating the rules of professional conduct by lying under oath at a 2005 court hearing at which her nephew, Jermaine Berry, requested a new trial on a manslaughter conviction.
12.
Dianne Wilkerson, who joined the bar in 1981 but had not practiced in a decade, gave "intentionally false, misleading, and deceptive testimony" at the Suffolk Superior Court hearing and in an affidavit, according to the eight-page petition for discipline.
13.
In both the court appearance and the affidavit, the complaint said, Dianne Wilkerson falsely claimed that she was present at a Boston police station when two homicide detectives interviewed another nephew, Isaac Dianne Wilkerson, about the 1994 stabbing death of Hazel Mack.
14.
Berry was convicted of voluntary manslaughter in Mack's death, but the senator testified that Isaac Dianne Wilkerson made statements that implicated himself during the interview.
15.
Dianne Wilkerson lied when she testified that the detectives repeatedly turned a tape recorder off and on during the interview, the disciplinary complaint said.
16.
On October 28,2008, Dianne Wilkerson was arrested by the FBI on public corruption charges.
17.
Dianne Wilkerson was the subject of an 18-month-long undercover investigation conducted by the Boston Police Department and the FBI in which she allegedly accepted eight bribes in cash totaling $23,500.
18.
On November 17,2008, Dianne Wilkerson filed a motion in federal court requesting a court-appointed lawyer to defend her against the bribery charges.
19.
Dianne Wilkerson stated that she could not afford to pay for a lawyer and asked US Magistrate Judge Timothy S Hillman to appoint Max D Stern.
20.
On December 8,2008, Wilkerson appeared before Judge Timothy S Hillman in the US District Court in Boston to plead not guilty to eight extortion charges.
21.
On June 3,2010, Dianne Wilkerson pleaded guilty to eight counts of attempted extortion.
22.
On January 6,2011, Dianne Wilkerson was sentenced to three and a half years in prison for bribery.
23.
In February 2014, Dianne Wilkerson received an award as one of 18 "women of color changing our world", presented by the Mayor of Boston, Marty Walsh.