This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. They say Fattah and his allies ran not one, but several schemes, that misappropriated funds and helped him further his own political and financial interests. But their real-life fairy tale turned into a nightmare in 2015 after the feds indicted and later convicted Chaka Fattah of racketeering, bribery, money laundering, and fraud. The judge said it was equally astonishing that Fattah would steal money to cover his sons debts, to pay taxes and to buy a family vacation home. He says hes just fine garnering the support. Committed to one day maybe six days after the primary, the scheduled start date of his trial fighting those criminal charges. For 16 minutes, the 59-year-old describes each one in varying detail. Former U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah, D-Pa., was released from a federal lockup near Scranton last month to serve the rest of his sentence in either a halfway house or under house arrest in. Fattah has also added a 1 percent tax credit designed to eliminate the impact of the measure on couples making less than $250,000 a year. Fattah was a former state lawmaker and Philadelphia official who was elected to Congress in 1994. Fattah, who has so far largely escaped being attacked by challengers with regard to the litany of criminal charges and accusations against him, is harnessing the one thing that he has that Evans doesnt: 22 years in congress and a seat on the House Committee on Appropriations. The elder Fattah, 59, faces his own corruption trial before Bartle on May 2. The couple, married in 2001, have one daughter, Chandler Fattah. He brings up that former Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush spent $136 million compared to Donald Trumps $11 million. Their older daughter, Cameron, is a freshman at Johns Hopkins University. Its the former home of Congressman Chaka Fattah and his wife Renee Chenault-Fattah, a 2.6-acre estate tucked away on a quiet lane in East Falls. Vederman wrote back to Fattah, "love to purchase" the car, according to the indictment, and later wired $18,000 to Fattah. He previously served in the Pennsylvania Senate and the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. Chenault-Fattah started with NBC10 in 1991, according to her biography on the station's website. The kitchen is totally up-to-date with the requisite granite countertops, stainless steel high-end appliances, and island workspace. Since 2011, it has assisted 4.5million students and their families. On November 5, 1991, City Councilman Lucien Edward Blackwell won the election with a plurality of 39% of the vote defeating Fattah (28%), John F. White (28%), and Nadine Smith-Bulford (5%). Fattah, who began his career in the Pennsylvania statehouse and entered Congress in 1995, lost the spring Democratic primary days before his trial began and resigned after his conviction in June. Theyre from the White House, The New York Times, The Inquirer, The Times of Israel. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Fattah has long been attempting to have his sentence one of the longest ever imposed for a member of Congress reduced. Prosecutors say he also used $27,000 in charity funds to pay down his son's college loans and took an $18,000 bribe to help a friend become an ambassador. She was cited in the case over the sham sale of her Porsche,. You abused your trust, time and time again.. "People will say, 'We miss seeing you on TV and it's such a shame what happened to your husband and your family," Chenault-Fattah said. , money, salary, income, and assets. Experts seem to agree that prosecutors have their hands full trying to prove theircharges because of a long paper trail (900,000 pages of government evidence) that will have to be nailed down in court. GEAR UP has become the largest pre-college awareness program in the nations history and has given more than $2 billion toward the educational advancement of low-income students. Fattah told Bartle that he had helped tens of millions of people during his time in office, despite the crimes hed been convicted of committing. On December 12, 2016, Fattah was sentenced to 10 years in prison as a result of the conviction. I got to ask former WCAU-TV anchor Renee Chenault-Fattah anything I wanted about Alzheimer's disease. The longtime northwest Philadelphia state politician has friends in both Philadelphia and state politics, including Tasco, who has a reputation for being able to whip up a significant amount of votes in her 50th ward. See also: United States House of Representatives elections in Pennsylvania, 2010#District 2. Renee Chenault-Fattah. The FBI spent years investigating Fattah, and it long looked as if he would escape federal indictment. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com. A source speculated to The Philadelphia Inquirer that the decision could be tied to coronavirus concerns. I don't want to say anything about the case because it's being appealed. U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah Sr., Of Philadelphia, Indicted On Corruption Get your daily rundown of Philly happenings in less than 10 minutes, Philadelphia local news: Neighborhoods, politics, food, and fun, Get Philly smart with BPs free daily newsletter. He talks about how former Mayor Michael Nutter spent about a third of whatbusinessman Tom Knox did in the 2007 mayoral race. The indictment says Chenault-Fattah e-mailed Vederman in January 2012 about purchasing her car. The Fattahs were buying a vacation home in Shohola, Pa., the indictment says, and had agreed to pay just over $19,000 in settlement costs at closing. The sale price should just about cover the amount Chaka swiped from the government and nonprofit organizations to repay the illegal $1 million campaign loan that landed him in prison. Fattah and his wife, Renee Chenault Fattah, also allegedly used bribery proceeds to "close on a vacation home" in the Poconos by falsely disguising an . On July 29, 2015, Fattah and a group of associates were indicted on federal charges related to their alleged roles in a racketeering and influence peddling conspiracy. In December 2011, Fattah through his role on the Appropriations Committee, directed the OSTP to establish an Interagency Working Group on Neuroscience (IWGN). 2016 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. His net worth has been growing significantly in 2021-2022. Sign up for the free Billy Penn newsletter and stay in the know, Fattahwasnt known as the type of person who would frequentlyhelp other politicos around town raise money. Thats an area where Evans whos successfully stumped for other candidates across the state has him beat. But she was less open to talking about her incarcerated husband, former U.S. Though the house dates only to 1930, theres some history behind this plot: the estate was once part of a much larger 10-acre one dating to the 1700s that stretched from School House Lane all the way to Coulter Street. The latest bill places more focus on eliminating the federal debt. In addition, Fattah received bribes from Herbert Vederman, a former deputy mayor of Philadelphia who served as an aide to his mayoral campaign. From 1995 to 2016, Fattah served as the U.S. Representative from Pennsylvanias 2nd Congressional District. Advertisement Chaka Fattah Biography, Age, Height, Wife, Net Worth, Family To cement the transaction, Fattah provided a bank a copy of a bill of sale for the vehicle, the indictment says, which Chenault-Fattah had signed as the seller. Convicted Former Congressman Still Draws Estimated $1 Million Federal The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia remanded for new sentencing and Fattah was again sentenced to 10 years on July 12, 2019. The tax credit assists any full-time college or university student or their families that claim the credit. The prize? Office of Property Assessment records show the home was put in Renee Chenault-Fattahs name via a nominal transaction in 2006. Chenault-Fattah, who used to anchor her station's 4 and 6 p.m. newscasts, went on a six-month leave that eventually became permanent. Fattah supporters have raised questions about whether he received a fair trial, noting that one of the jurors was dismissed from the case. Fattah ran for re-election to his seat in 2016, but he was defeated by Dwight Evans in the Democratic primary. Legal Statement. Former Rep. Chaka Fattah, D-Pa., walks from the federal courthouse on Monday after his sentencing hearing in Philadelphia. The couple, married in 2001, have one daughter, Chandler Fattah. Chaka Fattah of racketeering, bribery, money laundering, and fraud. Chaka Fattah (1956- ) - BlackPast.org And the most recent campaign finance reports filed with the Federal Elections Commission show Fattah, who makes $174,000 a year in congressional salary, had less than $6,000 in his campaign coffers as of Dec. 31. said Fattah had rightly given up his ranking position. As of September 5, 2010, none of the House committees have scheduled any action on the latest bill. Sometimes when youre flying on Air Force One and some corporate CEO is waiting to greet you and introduce you and this and that, but theyre really not talking to you. State Rep. Brian Sims declared himself a challenger, then dropped out before filing day. Fattah resigned from office on June 23, 2016, following a racketeering conviction. In 2004, Fattah introduced a bill titled the "Transform America Transaction Fee," (H.R. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. He then repaid some of it with federal grant money from NASA that he had steered to an education nonprofit run by loyal former staffers. Fattah also hired Vedermans girlfriend in his Capitol Hill office. She was never charged and has denied wrongdoing. "I love my husband. For example, Fattah used $23,000 in nonprofit funds to repay his sons college loans and took an $18,000 bribe to try to help a friend become an ambassador. The Fattah campaign defended itself, claiming that it had followed less restrictive federal rules in spending the money, but eventually returned a portion of the excess contributions to the exploratory committee following a settlement with the city's Board of Ethics. makes sure to note, too, that Sims raised $230,000 to challenge him for Congressthis year and didnt make it to filing day. "And when it's all said and done, I would like for the story to be, 'We miss you on TV. (Of note: Fattah came in fourth in that race. Once he lost that race and faced a large debt, Fattah and his inner circle illegally used federal and charitable funds to help repay the loan. He says hes spent more than $300,000 paying for his legal defense. "Whether it's diabetes, whether it's heart disease, strokes across the board.". The Congressman has an older son, Chaka Fattah, Jr., also a politician, who was convicted of felony bank and tax fraud in February 2016. In 1984, Fattah completed the Program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. Fattah says he can get by largely on the fact that his name has been on the ballot for two decades. 3941-45 W. Netherfield Rd., Philadelphia, Pa. 19129 | TREND images via Elfant Wissahickon Realtors. The taskforce included both liberal and conservative Democrats, gun owners and Representatives from various cities. When charges came down last summer, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Fattah had rightly given up his ranking position. Fattah, who earned $174,000 as a congressman,. Chaka Fattah was born Arthur Davenport on November 21, 1956 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Arthur Davenport and Frances Brown. By misusing campaign funds, misappropriating government funds, accepting bribes, and committing bank fraud, as alleged in the Indictment, Congressman Fattah and his co-conspirators have betrayed the public trust and undermined faith in government.. Voting ina new congressman would be, in his words, a Chip Kelly trade something that, roughly speaking, changes the team but for the worse. Fattah was the lead Democrat responsible for funding some of the largest science agencies in the federal system (NASA, NSF, Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). Chenault-Fattah on leave at NBC10, was mentioned in indictment This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, Committed to funding neuroscience research. This legislation will provide means to catalyze cooperative development, provide tools to entrepreneurs to bring cooperative to their communities, partner with financial institutions to provide grants a loans to developing businesses, offer technical training and professional development. Chenault-Fattah is raising money on the Indiegogo crowd-funding website for a new documentary called In Search of Lost Time: Alzheimer's and Dementia's Impact on People of Color,that she's producing along with veteran filmmaker Bob Lott of Teamwork Productions. But Fattah says hes also more committed now than he ever has been. Local news should be free and accessible, which is why we ask readers like you to support our work rather than charging a fee to see it. He was convicted on 23 counts of racketeering, fraud, and other corruption charges on June 21, 2016, and resigned two days later. The jury convicted him of leading a five-person racketeering enterprise that included the loyal aides and political consultants who did his bidding, comingling campaign, nonprofit and government funds and using them as directed for Fattahs personal and political needs. He's currently serving a 10-year prison sentence. U.S. District Judge Harvey Bartle III told Fattah in January:You need to take this matter seriously and think long and hard about your priorities., The charges Fattah denies are what hesomehow calls a clarifying moment., Sometimes when youre flying on Air Force One and some corporate CEO is waiting to greet you and introduce you and this and that, but theyre really not talking to you. Ive helped tens of millions of people, Fattah said. In the middle of Kelly territory, this 1930 Cotswold-style home lets you live the life of grace. Fattah's third wife, Renee Chenault-Fattah, is a former Philadelphia television news broadcaster. She is on leave from her anchor job. But he was charged in 2015, and then convicted on all counts the following year. Following this conference, his mother decided to change his name to Chaka Fattah, to acknowledge their African ethnicity. The loan was paid back using federal grant money intended for nonprofit organizations affiliated with Fattah. Chaka Fattah with Obama aide Valerie Jarrett on Air Force One. Theyre kind of dealing with the position, Fattah said. He is from . Hes done lots of favors for lots of people, Dilworth said. In Fattahs eyes, this people being wrongly accused happens all the time. On Monday, U.S. District Judge sentenced Fattah to 10 years in prison. He challenged the FBI's focus on his wife . On August 9, 2018, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia overturned Fattah's bribery convictions. Congressman William Gray decided to resign. Andthe Department of Justice contends its investigators werent unfairly targeting the congressman. Fattah eventually came in fourth in the Democratic primary, close behind fellow Congressman Bob Brady but well behind former city councilman Michael Nutter, who went on to win the fall general election handily. The living room boasts such classic details as a chair rail and a marble fireplace; it also is decorated with wallpaper depicting West African scenes. A spokeswoman for NBC10, Shawn Feddeman, said the station had no comment. Who Is Chaka Fattah's Wife? Chaka Fattah's income source is mostly from being a successful . Im going to get these allegations behind me. Suddenly, the popular broadcaster was a stay-at-home mom with a whole lot of time on her hands and a non-compete clause that sidelined her for a least a year. He is from . And Im going to leave it to others to figure out everybodys motives.. Though Fattah was reportedlyunder investigation by the Department of Justice for eight years, it took charges on racketeering and bribery for challengers to come forward. It's the former home of Congressman Chaka Fattah and his wife Renee Chenault-Fattah, a. The program offers Philadelphians the chance to exchange firearms for vouchers for groceries or other goods. In 2013, Fattah served as a vice chair on the House Gun and Violence Taskforce, a taskforce created under the direction of House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi. Market data provided by Factset. Do you find this information helpful? "Our family misses and loves him. The congressman has never won less than 85 percent of the vote in the general, and in 2000 he defeateda Libertarian by garnering an unheard-of 98 percent of the vote. In the 2011-12 election period, he spent $162,000 while the average winner of a House seat spent 10 times that, some $1.6 million. Rep. Chaka Fattah, D-Pa., walks after leaving the federal courthouse in Philadelphia, Tuesday, June 21. Fattah is only 64 years old, so his estimated lifetime pension is $1 million. If you know Chaka, he is the eternal optimist. In 2012, Fattah negotiated a partnership between FIRST and Boys & Girls Clubs of America to provide robotics programs to 4 million youth by 2015. These are the people that have been voting for me and praying for me for all these years.. In the late 1990s she broadcast segments on her own pregnancy, which was achieved through anonymous artificial insemination. Fox News Flash top headlines are here. While it was one the harshest sentences ever handed out to a one-time member of Congress, federal prosecutors had asked for a longer term behind bars. So heres whatprosecutors say happened: Fattah and four of his close associates were indicted by federal prosecutors with the Department of Justice in July after they poked around in the congressmans finances for the better part of eight years. Theres no better time to kick a candidate than when hes down. Born in Philadelphia on November 21, 1956, Chaka Fattah grew up with political ideas and even developed his own political propaganda for other candidates at the age of 14. People got to be real careful about taking out a guy like that, State Sen. Vincent Hughes, a longtime Fattah supporter, said last June. Bartle noted that Fattah and his wife, a TV news anchor, made more than $500,000 in combined income, placing them in the top 1 percent of Americans. In 2007 Fattah launched an unsuccessful bid for Mayor of Philadelphia. HEMAP is a loan program designed to protect Pennsylvanians who, through no fault of their own, are financially unable to make their mortgage payments and are in danger of losing their homes to foreclosure. BlackPast.org is a 501(c)(3) non-profit and our EIN is 26-1625373. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Fattah attended Overbrook High School in Philadelphia and graduated with his BA from the University of Pennsylvanias Wharton School of Business in 1978. In August 2014, Fattah's longtime aide and close confidant Gregory Naylor pled guilty to federal charges in a complex money laundering scheme used to hide an illegal million-dollar loan that a candidate, unnamed in that indictment, received for his failed mayoral campaign in 2007. Those in high places will certainly know what happens in this courtroom today, said U.S. District Judge Harvery Bartle, III, as he sentenced Fattah, according to WPVI, a Philadelphia TV station. Chenault-Fattah, who is also a lawyer, spent 25 years with WCAU-TV before she resigned after the indictment named her a participant in the bribery scheme. He's doing well. Thats at least four more elections to win. He even lobbied President Barack Obama on the friends behalf, to no avail. The Philadelphia Democrat, who was first elected to . Twenty-twoarticles and press releases are strewn across a dark wood table in the board room of Congressman Chaka Fattahs West Philly office. And Fattahs Twitter account shows that he launched a business while still serving his sentence, with his bio saying hes President/CEO of Fattah Neuroscience Global Advisors - Catalysts in Uplifting Brain Research. Congressman Chaka Fattah Sr., 58, of Philadelphia; lobbyist Herbert Vederman, 69, of Palm Beach, Florida; Fattah's Congressional District Director Bonnie Bowser, 59, of Philadelphia; and Robert Brand, 69, of Philadelphia; and Karen Nicholas, 57, of Williamstown, New Jersey, were charged today in a 29-count indictment with participating in a Yet despite his safe congressional seat, Fattah always wanted to be a power player back home in Philadelphia, where he was born, and it was this desire that ultimately led to his downfall and federal conviction. But Fattah says hes also more committed now than he ever has been. His wife, Philadelphia TV news anchor Renee Chenault-Fattah, took a leave after her husband's indictment and then quit in February. Congressman Chaka Fattah and Associates Charged with Participating in The latest property being unloaded in the Disgraced Pol Hit Parade went on the market last Tuesday. Dem Rep. Chaka Fattah Gets 10 Years in Prison for Fraud - Breitbart He even brought up that, earlier this month, charges were dropped against five Brooklyn teenagers accused of gang-raping a woman at a playground. Pennsylvania Center for the Book His parents divorced when he was young, and his mother soon remarried to a man she met at a national conference on black power in 1968. Former Philadelphia Congressman Chaka Fattah sentenced to 10 years in . Renee Chenault-Fattah is working again but only on causes she's I wouldnt trade for a day some very well-meaning, well-intentioned person who might be at the pillar of the citys civic leadership for having working families stay with me.. 'I'm as innocent as you': Chaka Fattah on his re-election fight and the U.S. District Judge Harvey Bartle called the Philadelphia Democrats crimes astonishing given that he and his wife had an annual income that put them at or near the top 1 percent.. Evans is the challenger who could do the most damage to Fattahs campaign for re-election. Fattah Estate Goes on the Market in East Falls for $995K In May 1986, he received his master's degree in Governmental Administration from the University of Pennsylvania's Fels Institute of Government. Legal Statement. Ive won dozens and dozens of elections. Phillys hot podcast studio: How two longtime producers are growing the citys audio scene, Meet the 10 entrepreneurs vying set up shop inside Philly rec centers, Tax cuts, a new forensic lab, library service, hotspot help: Takeaways from Mayor Kenneys final city budget proposal, A real art project at Quinta Brunsons former school in West Philly mirrors the Abbott Elementary Mural Arts episode, Former Councilmember Bobby Henon sentenced to 3.5 years in prison for taking bribes, Proudly powered by Newspack by Automattic.