ALLENTOWN, Pa. — A federal judge says the mayor of Pennsylvania’s third-largest city will be tried on corruption charges in the federal courthouse there, not in Philadelphia.

Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski is accused of accepting more than $150,000 in campaign contributions in exchange for city business. Prosecutors said he put a “for-sale sign” on his office.

The (Allentown) Morning Call says that’s why Judge Juan Sanchez on Thursday ordered the trial be held in that city’s federal courthouse.

The judge’s order says, “It is in the public’s interest that the trial in this case — which involves matters of importance to the citizens of Allentown — be held in Allentown.”

The judge set the trial for Jan. 16. Because some attorneys involved are from Philadelphia, the trial will only run Mondays through Thursdays.

According to The Morning Call:

The case is the result of a years-long FBI investigation that came to light with the July 2, 2015, raid on Allentown City Hall, which was followed with a raid on Reading City Hall the next week. To date, 16 officials, associates and contractors connected to the two cities have been charged, including former Reading Mayor Vaughn Spencer and Mike Fleck, who was campaign manager for both mayors. Eleven have pleaded guilty and two have been sentenced.

Sources have told The Morning Call that Fleck, who pleaded guilty to bribery and related charges in April 2016, recorded conversations with Pawlowski for the FBI.

First Published: September 22, 2017, 3:13 p.m.