A former local state senator imprisoned for bribery in 2011 reportedly is back in Boston after being released early.
Dianne Wilkerson is now out of prison and under the supervision of a re-entry program, according to the federal Bureau of Prisons website. According to the Dorchester Reporter, she returned to Boston sometime around the end of last month.
Wilkerson, of Roxbury, was a popular, powerful senator in Jamaica Plain’s 2nd Suffolk District, despite a long string of serious legal troubles. On the eve of the 2008 election, the FBI arrested her on charges of taking bribes. Surveillance images later showed her stuffing one cash bribe into her bra at a Beacon Hill restaurant table.
JP resident Sonia Chang-Díaz, ran against Wilkerson on a platform of improved ethics, won the seat and still holds it today.
The same FBI investigation also resulted in the bribery conviction of former City Councilor Chuck Turner, who represented part of JP. Turner also recently was released and returned to Boston, where he is volunteering.