The Allentown Morning Call recently published a story covering an ongoing FBI investigation of mayoral corruption in both Allentown and now Scranton that repeatedly invokes Sean Kilkenny’s name. Kilkenny serves as the Sheriff of Montgomery County and as Jenkintown’s borough solicitor. Kilkenny also lives in Jenkintown.

According to the article, Scranton Mayor Bill Courtright plead guilty to accepting a bribe from Northeast Revenue Services, the company that figured prominently in the arrest and conviction of Allentown Mayor Ed Pawloski for his participation in a pay-to-play scandal and bribery. .

Connecting the dots into a neat rectangle is Sean Kilkenny, who along with John Rodgers, the President of Northeast Revenue:

…gave $15,000 in campaign contributions to Pawlowski’s campaign for governor through a political action committee, paid for Philadelphia Eagles playoff tickets and dinner for Pawlowski, and made a $5,000 contribution to a Pennsylvania Municipal League convention Allentown was hosting.

Kilkenny was not charged in either case. He later “testified he didn’t feel comfortable with the request”. Nonetheless, as the article further states:

In Pawlowski’s 2018 trial, former Allentown Managing Director Francis Dougherty testified that Pawlowski saw Kilkenny as key to his ascent to higher political office. Kilkenny was seen as a likely pick to become chairman of the state Democratic Party, Dougherty said

Kilkenny was also named in a civil rights lawsuit for his alleged part in the prosecution of a zoning violation in Jenkintown against Dave and Peggy Downs ultimately deemed invalid. The judged dismissed him from the suit, citing his role as the borough’s attorney.

Read the full story by Peter Hall here.