Dianne Wilkerson

Facing allegations that he accepted a $1,000 bribe, Boston City Councilor Chuck Turner said Friday that he is innocent and promised to continue his work on the City Council, the Boston Globe reports.

Turner, a Roxbury member of the Green-Rainbow Party, was arrested Friday morning as a result of an FBI investigation into state Sen. Dianne Wilkerson, a Boston Democrat who was arrested at the end of October.

"I am absolutely positive that a jury of my peers will come to the conclusion that I am innocent," Turner said after his appearance at the Federal District Court in Worcester, according to the Globe. 

"I know I am innocent," he added.

Doug Bennett, a Republican at-large Boston City Council candidate, said Friday that City Councilor Chuck Turner should resign in light of the allegations that he accepted a $1,000 bribe.

"I call on Councilor Turner to resign immediately," Bennett, who lives in Boston's North End, said in a statement.

Bennett told PolitickerMA.com that people want politicians they can trust.

Reacting to news of City Councilor Chuck Turner's arrest, Boston City Council President Maureen Feeney said Friday that she has stripped Turner of his committee assignments and has called a meeting on Monday to discuss further action with the council.

Turner was arrested for allegedly accepting a $1,000 bribe to help a nightclub obtain a liquor license. Turner, a Roxbury member of the Green-Rainbow Party, is the second elected official to be arrested as a result of the FBI investigation; former state Sen. Dianne Wilkerson was arrested at the end of October for allegedly taking $23,500 in bribes.

"I am deeply saddened by the news this morning," Feeney, a Dorchester Democrat, said. "These charges are disturbing and shake an already fragile public trust in elected leaders."

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Government Exhibit B

Boston City Councilor Chuck Turner was arrested Friday morning for accepting a $1,000 bribe to help a Boston nightclub obtain a liquor license and then falsely telling the FBI that he didn't take the money, according to the FBI criminal complaint.

The complaint details Turner's involvement in the investigation of state Sen. Dianne Wilkerson (D-Boston). The same "cooperating witness" in that investigation, told the FBI that he "had heard that Turner took cash payments in connection with his official position," including an instance where Turner was reportedly paid to write a letter of recommendation for an individual with a criminal record.

The FBI complaint says that from January to September 2007, Wilkerson and Turner dealt with the cooperating witness to schedule a City Council hearing and eventually secure the nightclub, Dejavu, a liquor license.

Around Aug. 3, Turner met with the cooperating witness in his district office in Roxbury and accepted a $1,000 bribe, according to the complaint.

Christina DiIorio-Sterling, a spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan, just confirmed to PolitickerMA.com that Boston City Councilor Chuck Turner was arrested Friday morning.

DiIorio-Sterling said the details surrounding the arrest are sealed right now under orders from the federal judge. She expects that some of those details may be released around 9:30 a.m.

Turner will appear at the federal court in Worcester today, DiIorio-Sterling said. That is expected to take place around 3 p.m.

Boston City Councilor Chuck Turner was arrested Friday morning in connection with the ongoing investigation into state Sen. Dianne Wilkerson, WBZ-TV is reporting.

WBZ-TV reports that Turner was arrested at Boston City Hall.

Stay tuned.

UPDATE, 8:24 a.m.: The Boston Herald is reporting that Turner was arrested just after 7 a.m. at City Hall and is in FBI custody. The FBI tells the Herald that Turner was arrested on a federal warrant from the U.S. Attorney's office.

BOSTON - State Senate Minority Leader Richard Tisei said Wednesday that state Sen. Dianne Wilkerson's resignation will allow the Senate to move forward with its business and hinted that the Senate would have voted to expel her if she hadn't stepped down.

"It's a relief that Senator Wilkerson finally decided to resign today," Tisei, a Wakefield Republican, wrote on the Senate Republicans' blog. "Clearly, the fact that the Senate had voted unanimously to ask for her resignation showed that she has lost the support of her colleagues. I believe the Senate would have taken additional action had she not stepped down voluntarily."

Tisei said that Wilkerson, who faces charges of accepting $23,500 in bribes, violated a code of conduct among elected officials.

BOSTON - Moments after state Sen. Dianne Wilkerson's resignation letter was read in the Senate chamber Wednesday, state Senate President Therese Murray said the Senate is emerging from a trying time.

"The shadow is lifting, and in time, hopefully not too long from now, the good work of the Senate and our commitment to the people will once again be the focus of all inquiry and conversation," Murray, a Plymouth Democrat, said.

Wilkerson's resignation is the second to hit the Senate in less than a week. Jim Marzilli, an Arlington Democrat, stepped down last Friday  after details of a trip to Berlin, Germany, in October emerged. Marzilli is currently facing multiple counts of sexual harassment.