Key Figures in the Pay-to-Play Scandal

John F. Street, now 69, who was not charged with any crime, was mayor from 2000 to 2008. "History has proven that my administration was honest and hardworking," he said in a statement last week. Federal prosecutors won convictions of two dozen suspects in the scandal. Here are some of the key defendants.

Lawyer Ronald A. White, the central figure in the corruption investigation, grew up in a Philadelphia housing project, attended the University of Pennsylvania Law School, and became a major fund-raiser for Street. In 2003, he was captured on wiretaps promising to help win multimillion-dollar city contracts for campaign contributors. Indicted in 2004 on charges of extortion and other offenses, White died at 55 of cancer just before his trial.

Former City Treasurer Corey Kemp, the top public official convicted in the case, is serving a 10-year sentence in a federal prison in Ashland, Ky. Kemp, the youngest person ever named city treasurer, accepted bribes and gifts for steering municipal contracts to White and to contributors to Street's campaign fund. Kemp, 44, is scheduled for release next year.

Shamsud-din Ali, a Philadelphia Muslim cleric convicted in 2005 of fraud and racketeering, was a political ally of the mayor's. He initially was targeted in a drug investigation in which the FBI intercepted his conversations with drug lords. But in one wiretap, he was picked up talking with White. Based on that surveillance, the FBI's political-corruption squad expanded the City Hall investigation.

Ali and his wife, Farida, were convicted for running a ghost-teacher scam, skimming $270,000 in federal money that was supposed to be used for city education programs.

Ali was also convicted of setting up a bogus collection business that he used to skim $60,000 from a back-taxes payment by a real estate magnate.

Ali, 74, is serving a 7½-year sentence at a federal prison in Phoenix. His wife was sentenced to two years in prison in that case and one year in a separate fraud case.

Former lawyer Leonard N. Ross was the person closest to Street who went to prison in the probe. Ross, who chaired a city committee to select a developer for Penn's Landing, provided inside information to a bidder in exchange for help obtaining a $150,000 loan. Ross, then a prominent Democratic fund-raiser, also tried to get another bidder to hire his wife. Ross, 66, went to prison for 2½ years and lost his law license.

Glenn K. Holck, a former president of Commerce Bank/Pennsylvania, was sentenced to 28 months in prison, and regional vice president Stephen M. Umbrell received a 27-month sentence on corruption and fraud charges for giving "sweetheart" loans to Kemp in spite of his poor credit. Kemp then favored the bank for city business.

Joseph Moderski, jailed for 14 months for fraud and conspiracy, orchestrated a scheme to funnel $30,000 in illegal campaign contributions to Mayor Street from an advertising company that had a single airport contract and wanted more.

La-Van Hawkins, a Detroit businessman and friend of White's, convicted of fraud and lying to the federal grand jury, was sentenced to 33 months. Prosecutors said Hawkins had helped White bribe Kemp.

Janis R. Knight, Ronald White's former "paramour," as her indictment called her, was paid $308,000 for government printing work. In fact, the government said, the work had been done by other printers for a fraction of that price. She was convicted of making false statements to the FBI and sentenced to 5½ months behind bars.

Charles LeCroy, a former managing director at JP Morgan, pleaded guilty to wire fraud for helping arrange an illegal $50,000 payment to White, who later helped JP Morgan earn millions of dollars in fees for city work. LeCroy, sentenced to three months in prison, is being sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission for his part in a questionable bond deal for the now-bankrupt Jefferson County, Ala.