FBI agents on Thursday arrested Cincinnati Democrat City Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld for accepting bribes in exchange for votes.
Thursday’s arrest of Sittenfeld marks the third arrest on the city council this year.
The US Attorney and FBI are holding a press conference regarding the arrest of Cincinnati City Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld for corruption allegations @FOX19 pic.twitter.com/Vu8vfgEeNx
— Joanna Bouras (@JoannaBouras) November 19, 2020
Fox19 reported:
Charges unveiled against Sittenfeld in his 20-page indictment allege he schemed to funnel money from developers into a political action committee (PAC) that he secretly controlled, court records show.
The “developers” were really undercover FBI agents who handed a total of $40,000 in Sittenfeld checks on three different occasions, according to the indictment.
Sittenfeld, who could not be immediately reached for comment, is running to be Cincinnati’s mayor and considered by some as the front runner with thousands of dollars raised for his campaign.
He is now the third Cincinnati City Councilmember to be arrested on corruption charges this year and the second in the past week alone.
Federal authorities recently revealed in court records they were investigating corruption and bribery related to votes and development projects and said more prosecution were coming.
U.S. Attorney David DeVillers said at a news conference last week that accepting campaign donations in exchange for favors also violates federal law.