conduct is wide ranging and corrupt. and it wases just a month ago when he apologized for accepting gifts and showed poor judgment and today a grand jury accused him of more than poor judgment. bribery, extortion and wire fraud. the -- says quote it's imperative he resign from his position immediately to restore the public's confidence in our justice system. first, chad pradelli is at the federal building to explain the details of what happened today. >> reporter: yes jim, you know the gifts are nothing new, seth williams has admitted to receiving those but federal authorities here is a he solicited those gifts in a classic quid pro quo. >> the federal indictment alleg

alleg alleg alleges district attorney essential williams soliciter righted from two business owners including them trips and a sofa and checks and cash and a used convertible jack war. >> in exchange for the bribes, mr. williams agreed to be ready to help business owner number one should the need arise. >> according to the indictment business owner number one needed help getting preferential treatment through customs and assistance of a friend that was being prosecuted by williams' office. >> he responded saying if he pleaded guilty and there say mandatory sentence there is little i can do the day before without it looks extremely suspicious. >> another business owner that owns bars in philadelphia and california wanted williams to write a letter of recommendation

to the california department of beverage control in a license revokation case. >> was brought in to avoid a possible conflict of interest here in pennsylvania. >> it's a violation of federal law to corruptly solicit bribes and make yourself available to take official action in exchange for the gifts and that is essentially what the indictment alleges. >> so far williams has no comment today. his office says he is out and spending time with family. >> last month though williams announced he would not run again and admitted to not disclosing $160 in gifts between 2010 and 2015. my decision not to accept gifts and fail to report them brought embarrassment and shame and adverse publicity for me and the office for which i love. for this i will always hold deep

regret in my heart. >> and if those alligations were not enough. the da says he committed medicare fraud against a relative in a nursing home allegedly stealing $20,000 for his own personal use. live in center city, chad pradelli, channel 6 "action news." >> philadelphia mayor, jim kenney issued a statement saying it is deeply shameful that the city's chief law enforcement officer is implicated in such a flagrant violation of the law, at a time when the citizen's trust in government is at an all-time low it's disheart being to see yet another elect the official give the public another reason not to trust us. >> lets go to vernon odom outside of city hall. it doesn't seem that it was that long ago he was the star at the democratic -- >> reporter: indeed jim. back in the day he was a poster

child for the movement of democratic party, golden boy in most political circles and a great self promoter date can back to student days at penn state and developed exile as a young fruiter under lynn abraham has predecessor and now a poster child for a corrupt public official. >> when he entered the da office in 010 williams was viewed as a young man on the rise charismatic promising to battle corruption head on. >> this is a demonstrative evidence of the quid pro co. >> and now under the weight of the evidence from the irs and fbi, accepting $160,000 worth of gifts crossing eithercal and legal lines. former d.a. lynn abraham was his

mentor and became his bitter critic. >> self involved and ego centric and thought he was the greatest gift to humanity. all about his ego he couldn't believe he was merely a mortal given a great opportunity. >> for those that helps williams advance politically the disappointment is enormous. >> the sky was the limit for essential williams, everyone in west philly loved him and he called marches and meetings we all came and i came as well. and we were just proud of him and had our first black d.a. >> reporter: jim, congressman bob brady from washington today had this to say. he says that seth's problems were self created and self-inflicted. vernon odom, channel 6 "action news." >> thank you. our coverage of the essential williams story

continues owe and 6abc.com. you can read the full 50 page indictment against the embattled d.a. and find reaction and updates as the story continues to unfold. two people were injured when two cars ain school bus collided today. chopper 6 hd through over the accident along bethlehem pike in west rock hill township this morning. police say that the cars crashed into each other and bumped the bus, both drives were injured but not seriously. newly released surveillance show shows the moments that two suspects broke into a jewelry store to pull off a million dollar heist. it took place at the jewelry store on whitaker avenue in lawn crest. they cut a hole in the wall before the two stores and the video goes black when one

suspect cut the wires, the suspect swiped $1.3 million worth of jewelry and watches from a safe. east goshen police say that a 16-year-old boy will be charged for distributing phoney traffic ticketed. at least four residents in the pleasant grove neighborhood received the speeding violations and ordered people to pay the fine by leaving cash in the mailboxes, the teen's father found that the fake citations were printed at his home and he contacted police. >> pepsi will stop selling 12 packs and 2 liter bottles in philadelphia and blaming the drastic change on the city's beverage tax. bob brooks live now with the full story. >> reporter: jim, basically what pepsico is saying is that their large product items like 2

liters and 12 packs of cans of soda became too expensive and nobody is buying them. you see how barren the shelf is. as of march 20th they stopped the distribution of these products and the bottom shelf as well. >> pepsi 2 liters and 12 packs and cubes, you won't see them on philadelphia shelves if i more. pepsico is blaming the beverage tax as the reason why. and shoppers don't blame them. >> i will not buy anything, no sodas, it's ridiculous. >> if i am out of the city i will go and purchase soda for a treat but i won't buy it in the city. >> we spoke with maria at the bells market. saying i recently received this letter. part of it reading, because of the philly beverage tax people are buying fewer, especially

those in large package sizes so they are pulling them from the shelves, as a result they say that the loss of products will lead to less shoppers at her store. >> if a shopper goes outside of the area they get the 12 pack a lot less expensive and obviously pick up other items there. >> pepsi says their products will be available in the city but in smaller amounts and coca cola will also focus on smaller size products and they say that pepsi's reasoning is self reported by a company that is actively fighting to overturn the beverage tax in court. >> reporter: okay another live look here at bells, this took effect yesterday and when 2 leaters and 12 packs at your stores run out to get them you'll have to travel outside of the city limits. bob brooks, channel 6 "action news." >> thank you. >> newcastle county did not have

to look for for the new top cop. he elected vaughn bon jr. to be chief of police. bond is acting chief since january. the 25 year veteran of the force and the first african-american police chief in the department and county council will have to vote on confirming bond jr. to this post. coming up on "action news" tonight. there is only one name on the ballot to fill a vacant seat in the house. but a candidate that missed the deadline came up with a way to help voters write in his name during the special election. and flyers climb to playoff hopes, jaime apody with that story. >> temperatures climb to the upper 50s on the first full day of spring and winter is not giving up without a fight and i'm fighting the bitter windchills in the accuweather forecast. >> that and much more when

"action news" continues tonight. my cancer started as ovarian cancer and it kept coming back in different places. cancer treatment centers of america gave me treatment options i didn't know about before. i want to be around just to be a grandma. learn more at cancercenter.com/philadelphia

or how high the pollen count, flonase allergy relief keeps your eyes and nose clear. flonase helps block 6 key inflammatory substances that cause nasal congestion and itchy, watery eyes. for relief beyond the nose. flonase. there is a special election going on today to fill a vacant seat in the pennsylvania house, the seat is from north philadelphia typically a democrat in the race will have an advance in any seat in the city but the normal rules don't apply in this contest. john rawlins explains. detectives and lawyers busy running down irregularities in the polls.

lucinda little is the only candidate on the ballot. first they endivorced a candidate sought side of the district and then he didn't make the deadline and they put stamps out with his name. >> a write-in stamp. >> a stamp, there you go. vazquez says if elects his focus will but on education and reentry program for people coming out of prison. >> coming out and making sure they get a good job it's about job job job. >> little hopes that voters will see after decaded of democrats the advance of having a representative in the majority. >> our homeless are neglected and an opioid epidemic. our voices will be heard with

the republican majority. >> and sherry, today at the green party headquarters, blasting democrats for literature that compares her to donald trump. >> don't believe the rumors that are told at the different polls that some how my vote is not going to be counted and nobody has to vote for me any longer, these are all lies. >> there were a lot of rumors and misunderstandings flying around polls today. it was a special election that generated a lot of emotion. john rawlins, channel 6 "action news." here at channel 6 we know that a great book can take you on an amazing adventure. president and general manager, bernie prazenica stopped by the winfield police athletic league to read moana with a group of kids. channel 6 donated $5,000 to pals

literacy initiative through 6 abc and magic of story telling campaign of disney. in addition of taking home books the kids received channel 6 swag and disney is the parents company of 6 abc.

flyers trying to keep the playoff hopes alive. >> this is it. a four game road trip and flyers need to come away with 6 points to have any chance at the post season. it started in winnipeg and steve mason gets the start again. they cling to slim playoff hopes. the goalie says everyone knows what is at stake. >> we pretty much have to sweep the board here. you know like i said, eachp every game brings its own challenges and tough challenges and tough buildings to play in and we have to have our best stuff every night in order to come out on top. >> herrera returned to the team

after spending time with the baseball classic and today he was much better. phils facing the twins and freddy galvis launched his first home run in the fifth and herrera 2-5 with two rbis, and alter homered in the fifth and the phils came from behind to win. tough road for the sixers they lost the second game of their road trip yesterday. and sixer fans showing their support in orlando where they saw their team lose a lead. and robert covington tying it up with a minute to go. they were playing the second of a back to back and only down nine healthy players, fall 112-109. >> we are fighting with a different sort of team. once all the injuries happen

with jar and joel and ben and jared and gerald. we miss gerald tonight. you fight with what are you left with and our guys embraced the situation and i hope the city of philadelphia is proud of them as i am. >> of course the team playing without joel embiid for the rest of the string here and again. but that did not stop the process from poking fun at himself. >> check out embiid in this new jolly rancher commercial. >> sitting out his first two seasons and out for the season with a rooker year lasting longer than a jolly rancher. joel embiid! >> it was great to poke fun at his long lasting rookie status. >> and his sense of human comes through in that. >> he is hilarious. >> all right. cecily tynan with the accuweather forecast when we continue in just a moment.

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nice today. >> it was beautiful. >> you know where your hat and gloves are? >> i wore them today. >> it was 59 today. >> you know me. >> it will feel colder tomorrow find a few more layers. stormtracker 6 live double scan showing we were rain free out there and cloud free this afternoon after clouds this morning, i want to share this photo, adrian tweeted it to me and you see the blue skies and a hawk up there.

maybe scouting out some dinner. and our weather not too foul today. temperatures running 5 degrees above normal and we have the winds of changed. a wind whipped wednesday, wow these are the sustained winds. most of the day more than 20 miles per hour. and we'll have gusts up to about 40 miles per hour combining that with dropping temperatures, and this is the way it feels at 3:00 in the afternoon tomorrow. windchill of 23 in philadelphia. 15 in allentown and 20 in lancaster and reading and 24 in atlantic city only a 2 degree windchill tomorrow afternoon in the poconos. it's going be a shock to that system after today's relatively mild temperatures, 59 degrees and 5 degrees above normal. allentown 57 and atlanta see airport 58 and cape may cooler

49 degrees. this is actually the above average day in about a week and a half. if you look at march overall we had a long cold snap and some of that snow and the month is running 2 degrees below normal that is certainly unusual and most of the month we had temperature as above normal. we are dropping even more, satellite 6 along with action radar showing here is the cold front i am tracking limited moisture with the snow showers and it comes through dry late tonight and what this will do it pull down the colder air and increase the winds. the overnight lows 45 in philadelphia and 30 in allentown and wilmington and the same in cape may and the wins are picking up by dawn than brings the brutal windchills and people were driving around with the convirtable tops down and the bus stop forecast 32 at 6:00 and 33 at 8:00 and windchills are stuck in the mid-20s in the morning and stuck there all day. temperatures are running 15 degrees below average and 16 in

fact. we get the wind tunnel affect and windchills stuck in the 20s and then the winds diminishing on thursday and still cool and loads of sunshine and 45 degrees it feels better without the wind and that high pressure moves to the east and we get the return flow and that will bring us some very warm temperatures. so the exclusive exclusive accuweather seven-day forecast bright sunshine tomorrow and high winds 39 and windchills in the 20s and thursday still chilly, 45 degrees and lots of sunshine and less wind and a warm front moving through on friday bringing us clouds and a shower. behind the warm front 72 on saturday, and definitely the better of the two days, and dropping to 52 degrees on sunday and bringing in the clouds and rain and monday mostly cloudy and early morning drizzle and clouds break for sunshine on tuesday with a high of 52 degrees. find the winter coat you'll need it tomorrow. >> thank you. today marks world down

syndrome day, a celebration of everyone born with an extra chromosome. kindergartners in wilmington mark the occasion with their classmate reilly richards, she has down syndrome. reilly's mom made sure all of her friends weared crazy miss matched socks like other supporters nationwide and they received matching t-shirts and enjoyed cupcakes. abc world news is next on channel 6. "action news" continues at 10:00 on phl 17 with brian taff, sharrie williams and ducis rogers and please join us for "action news" at 11:00 here on channel 6. now for cecily tynan, jaime apody, ducis rogers and the entire "action news" team. i'm jim gardner, we hope you'll join us for "action news" at 11:00.

tonight, the terror concern and the emergency security ban fears over possible explosives smuggled inside laptops and tablets. the new rules for passengers flying to the u.s. from eight muslim-majority countries. martha raddatz standing by. president trump's fight to take down obamacare -- the president's warning to republicans with the bill fails. in the hot seat. supreme court nominee, neil gorsuch, grilled at his confirmation hearing. the questions on abortion, and president trump's travel ban that hit a nerve. in. inferno investigation. more than a dozen homes damaged. firefighters describing the scene as a war zone. nationwide manhunt, the coast to coast search for a teacher and his 15-year-old female student he's accused of kidnapping.