Former Boston City Councillor Chuck Turner was sentenced to three years in federal prison last week in Federal District Court.
He has received exactly what he deserves – and residents of this city and voters should be pleased with the decision.
Our public officials may not be saints but they cannot be allowed to serve if they accept bribes as Turner did.
Even though he was filmed taking a $1,000 cash bribe he has continued to deny that he did anything wrong.
His continued pleas of innocence shock those of us who would naturally have said in such an instance – we’re sorry, we apologize, we ask the court for its mercy.
It wasn’t his color. It wasn’t his liberal politics that got him three years in prison.
It was his inability to take responsibility for what he did and to admit it.
It turns out Turner was a taker. The real question is how much did he take during his long tenure on the city council?