Henry J. "Buddy" Cianfrani (March 19, 1923 – July 3, 2002) was the

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

state senator for the first district. Prior to holding elective office, he served in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

where he earned the

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, ...

and the Silver Star. He was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1956 and 1960. He was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 1963, where he served until his election to the Pennsylvania State Senate in 1966. He eventually attained the chairmanship of the powerfu
Appropriations Committee
from which position he worked closely with Speaker of the House Herbert Fineman to appropriate money to

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

. In 1977, Cianfrani was convicted on federal charges of racketeering and

mail fraud Mail fraud and wire fraud are terms used in the United States to describe the use of a physical or electronic mail system to defraud another, and are federal crimes there. Jurisdiction is claimed by the federal government if the illegal activity ...

for padding his Senate payroll. His case was prosecuted in the

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (in case citations, E.D. Pa.) is one of the original 13 federal judiciary districts created by the Judiciary Act of 1789. It originally sat in Independence Hall in Phil ...

by U.S. Attorney David W. Marston, who was later removed from the position by

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 76th governor of Georgia from 1 ...

. Cianfrani was sentenced to five years in federal prison. After serving for twenty-seven months, he was released in 1980.The Political Graveyard: Index to Politicians: Churchman to Ciro
/ref> In the middle 1970s, he began dating political reporter Laura Foreman of ''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...

''. The two moved in together and she reportedly accepted money and gifts from him while she was still reporting on him for her newspaper.Bartlett, Donald L. and James B. Steele. "The Full Story of Cianfrani and the Reporter". ''Philadelphia Inquirer'', October 16, 1977 After the affair became public in 1977 she was fired by her employer, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

''. She and Cianfrani married in 1980 after his divorce from his first wife was finalized and he was released from federal prison. Years after his release, his political career enjoyed a resurgence. In 1988 Cianfrani won back his old position as Philadelphia ward leader and regained a measure of clout within Philadelphia politics. He was considered a mentor to many Philadelphia politicians, including Congressman

Bob Brady Robert A. Brady (born April 7, 1945) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 1998 to 2019. He was the ranking Democrat and Chairman of the United States House Committee on House Administration from 2007 to 20 ...

and Senator

Vince Fumo Vincent Joseph Fumo (born May 8, 1943) is a former politician, lawyer and businessman from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A Democrat, he represented a South Philadelphia district in the Pennsylvania Senate from 1978 to 2008. On March 16, 2009, he w ...

. Cianfrani died of a stroke in

Hahnemann University Hospital Hahnemann University Hospital was a tertiary care center in Center City Philadelphia. It was the teaching hospital of Drexel University College of Medicine. Established in 1885, it was for most of its history the main teaching hospital associate ...

in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on July 3, 2002.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cianfrani, Henry 1923 births 2002 deaths Politicians convicted of mail and wire fraud Politicians convicted of racketeering Democratic Party members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Democratic Party Pennsylvania state senators United States Army personnel of World War II Politicians from Philadelphia Recipients of the Silver Star Pennsylvania politicians convicted of crimes 20th-century American politicians