Reading Council President Francisco Acosta has pleaded guilty to taking a $1,800 bribe to repeal a city ethics code provision that caps campaign contributions and prohibits “no-bid” contracts to big donors, reports PaIndependent.com and Evan Grossman of Watchdog.org. 
The money according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania came in the form of a loan from Public Official 1, — whom the Independent indicates is Reading Mayor Vaughn Spencer — to Public Official 2, who is reportedly Acosta’s wife who ran unsuccessfully for a district justice seat.
The Berks County Board of Elections, last year, ruled that Vaughn in his 2011 mayoral race laundered tens of thousands in political contributions for International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 98. The case was transferred to our sparkly clean and pristine — that’s sarcasm, son — state Attorney General Kathleen Kane who unsurprisingly dismissed it.
Hey IBEW guys, why not just ask the Berks County GOP to put up your business manager for city council president? Then you wouldn’t have to worry about this money laundering stuff.
On the other hand, maybe the Berks County GOP is not as mind-numbingly something as other county GOP’s are.