Jury selected to decide government's corruption case against Allentown mayor Ed Pawlowski
A jury of seven men and five women was selected Tuesday to decide whether Mayor Ed Pawlowski and co-defendant Scott Allinson are guilty of corruption charges.
The jurors, plus six alternates, were seated about 4:30 p.m. at the end of a nearly six-hour process in federal court in Philadelphia that revealed at least three were familiar with Pawlowski before entering the courtroom and at least five had read or heard about the allegations against him.
The questioning, much of which was done privately, revealed little about where the jurors live, what they do for a living or other details.
Opening statements in the federal trial are set for Monday in Allentown. The mayor, sworn this month to a fourth term, faces 54 counts including bribery, conspiracy and fraud for an alleged pay-to-play scheme that traded city contracts for campaign donations. Allinson, an attorney with the Allentown firm Norris McLaughlin & Marcus, faces charges of bribery and conspiracy. Both pleaded not guilty.
Read more: http://www.mcall.com/news/local/allentown/fbi/mc-nws-allentown-pawlowski-trial-jury-selection-20180111-story.html
