Dianne Wilkerson

Wilkerson was released from prison September 27, 2013. In February 2014, Wilkerson received an award as one of 18 "women of color changing our world", presented by Boston mayor Martin Walsh.

On January 6, 2011, Wilkerson was sentenced to 3​⁄2 years in prison for bribery.

On October 28, 2008, she was arrested on public corruption charges by the FBI for accepting bribes totaling $23,500. She formally resigned on November 19, 2008. On June 3, 2010 she a pleaded guilty to eight counts of attempted extortion.

She lost the September 2008 Democratic primary to Sonia Chang-Díaz, and on October 31, 2008, announced that she was ending her sticker campaign to seek re-election in the November 4, 2008, election. On November 19, 2008, Wilkerson formally resigned from the Massachusetts state Senate.

The state Office of the Bar Counsel filed a complaint on October 3, 2008, accusing 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.

On October 28, 2008, Wilkerson was arrested by the FBI on public corruption charges. A federal criminal complaint was filed against her that alleges she was caught on tape stuffing a cash bribe into her bra and accepted those cash payments in exchange for her official duties and responsibilities.

On November 17, 2008, Wilkerson filed a motion in federal court requesting a court-appointed lawyer to defend her against the bribery charges. She stated that she could not afford to pay for a lawyer and asked US Magistrate Judge Timothy S. Hillman to appoint Max D. Stern. Stern had been defending Wilkerson in an unrelated matter.

On November 18, 2008, a federal grand jury indicted Wilkerson on eight counts of accepting bribes.

On December 8, 2008, Wilkerson appeared before Judge Timothy S. Hillman in the U.S. District Court in Boston to plead not guilty to eight extortion charges. After a federal grand jury added a conspiracy charge against Wilkerson, she had to return to court on December 11 along with co-defendant Boston City Councilor Chuck Turner to again plead not guilty to all charges. On April 7, 2009, a federal grand jury added 23 more counts of corruption against Wilkerson. It was alleged that she had been receiving bribes since 2002. On June 3, 2010 Wilkerson pleaded guilty to eight counts of attempted extortion. As part of her plea agreement, other related charges will be dismissed. She remained free on bail while awaiting sentencing.

In response to the arrest, Senate President Therese Murray stripped Wilkerson of her chairmanship of the Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight and stated that she would initiate a Senate Ethics Committee investigation. On October 30, 2008, the Massachusetts Senate removed her from all her committee assignments and unanimously passed a resolution calling on her to resign. In response, Wilkerson sent a letter to Senate President Murray stating that she would follow the will of the Senate. Wilkerson was not present during the Senate vote. Wilkerson later released a statement indicating that she would not resign, calling the request "unreasonable" and also stating: "Surely the members of the state Senate could not have believed that such a monumental decision would be made within a few hours. A decision to leave this district without representation, even for 60 days, is one that cannot and should not be made in a matter of hours. Rest assured I am committed to do what is in the best interest of the residents of this district."

On November 5, 2008, in a statement issued by her Senate office, Wilkerson announced that she would resign "...as soon as humanly and responsibly possible." On November 19, 2008, Wilkerson formally resigned from the Massachusetts state Senate, the day before the Senate was to vote on expelling her.

In September 2005, the state Attorney General and head of the state's campaign finance office filed a lawsuit against Wilkerson, alleging she had not reported nearly $27,000 in donations and refused to explain more than $18,000 in personal reimbursements. She agreed to pay a $10,000 fine and forego about $30,000 in debts owed her to settle the allegations.

In 2001, she was fined $1,000 by the State Ethics Commission for failing to properly report that a bank she lobbied for as senator was paying her more than $20,000 a year as a consultant.

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. She was suspended from practicing law for one year in 1999 because of the conviction and did not seek reinstatement.

In both the court appearance and the affidavit, the complaint said, Wilkerson falsely claimed that she was present at a Boston police station when two homicide detectives interviewed another nephew, Isaac Wilkerson, about the 1994 stabbing death of Hazel Mack. Berry was convicted of voluntary manslaughter in Mack's death, but the senator testified that Isaac Wilkerson made statements that implicated himself during the interview.

In 1993, she became the first African American female to serve in the Massachusetts Senate.

Wilkerson, who joined the bar in 1981 but has 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.

Dianne Wilkerson graduated from High School of Commerce in Springfield. She 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.

Dianne Wilkerson (born May 2, 1955) is a former Democratic member of the Massachusetts Senate, representing the 2nd Suffolk District from 1993 to 2008.