--- description: Federal authorities have charged Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams with accepting more than $100,000 in gifts, travel and cash title: Philadelphia District Attorney Charged With Bribery and Extortion image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbb1805928dc9e9d8/6988bf53656a3f6e68bcf3b1/seth-williams.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams Charged With Bribery and Extortion by [Mahita Gajanan](/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Mar 21, 2017 10:10 PM CUT  Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams speaks during a news conference in Philadelphia on Feb. 10, 2017. Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams speaks during a news conference in Philadelphia on Feb. 10, 2017.Matt Rourke—AP by [Mahita Gajanan](/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Mar 21, 2017 10:10 PM CUT Federal authorities have charged Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams with accepting more than $100,000 in gifts, travel and cash, often in exchange for official favors, according to a bribery and extortion [indictment](https://www.justice.gov/usao-nj/press-release/file/950406/download "undefined") that was made public on Tuesday. Williams faces charges on 23 counts, including bribery, extortion and wire fraud, following a nearly two-year investigation into his financial matters. The top attorney, who was reelected into his second term in 2013, received an annual salary of about $170,000, according to court documents. Williams has said he encountered financial issues following a divorce and while paying for private school for his daughters, the Associated Press [reported](https://apnews.com/cd9de44510b348739e8a7429e0661049/Philadelphia-prosecutor-to-be-charged-in-$160k-gifts-probe?utm%5Fcampaign=SocialFlow&utm%5Fsource=Twitter&utm%5Fmedium=APEastRegion "undefined"). Among the gifts described in the indictment are a trip to a resort in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic with his then-girlfriend, a 1997 Jaguar XK8 convertible, a custom sofa worth more than $3,000, $2,000 in cash and $7,000 in a check. Williams is also accused of spending $20,000 in money set aside for a relative’s care in a nursing home. A spokesman for Williams [told](https://apnews.com/cd9de44510b348739e8a7429e0661049/Philadelphia-prosecutor-to-be-charged-in-$160k-gifts-probe?utm%5Fcampaign=SocialFlow&utm%5Fsource=Twitter&utm%5Fmedium=APEastRegion "undefined") the AP he is expected to surrender and be arraigned on Wednesday. His defense attorney Michael Diamondstein said they would defend the charges. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4708613/philadelphia-da-seth-williams-bribe-corruption-extortion-charge/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4708613/philadelphia-da-seth-williams-bribe-corruption-extortion-charge/"},"headline":"Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams Charged With Bribery and Extortion","datePublished":"2017-03-21T22:10:16.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T03:57:38.772Z","description":"He is charged with accepting more than $100,000 in cash","url":"https://time.com/4708613/philadelphia-da-seth-williams-bribe-corruption-extortion-charge/","keywords":["Crime","Pennsylvania","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbb1805928dc9e9d8/6988bf53656a3f6e68bcf3b1/seth-williams.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mahita Gajanan","jobTitle":"Gajanan is an editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbb1805928dc9e9d8/6988bf53656a3f6e68bcf3b1/seth-williams.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Seth Williams","caption":"Seth Williams","creditText":"Matt Rourke—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4708613/philadelphia-da-seth-williams-bribe-corruption-extortion-charge/","name":"Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams Charged With Bribery and Extortion"}}]}] ```