KYW Flashback: City Councilman Convicted Of Corruption
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- It was a case of business as usual. But 40 years ago this month, KYW Newsradio reported the business of bribery finally caught up with the first modern-day Philadelphia City Councilman to be convicted of taking cash for favors.
Isadore Bellis, the likeable, perpetually tanned tennis champ and council majority leader was helping vendors get a spot at the new airport terminal - for a price.
But unlike others who followed him, Bellis avoided jail. He had already spent 12 years on City Council and was on the primary ballot for a fourth term.
The voters turned their backs on him, the court sentenced him to a fine and probation. But his conviction revealed what emerged as a pattern of political corruption.
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