CINCINNATI (WXIX) - Former Cincinnati City Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld’s trial begins this week, 19 months after he was arrested on multiple corruption charges.

Sittenfeld, 37, a Democrat who served on council for a decade, was indicted on two counts each of honest services wire fraud, bribery, and attempted extortion by a government official in Nov. 2020.

He was one of three council members charged that year in what prosecutors describe as a pay-to-play scheme in exchange for votes or support for development projects - in Sittenfeld’s case, a contribution to his political action committee (PAC).

At the time of his arrest, Sittenfeld was considered by many as the front runner to be Cincinnati’s next mayor.

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Prosecutors allege in court records Sittenfeld promised support for development deals in exchange for $40,000 in donations to his political action fund (PAC).

According to the indictment, Sittenfeld accepted bribe money from “developers” in 2018 and 2019 while promising to “deliver the votes” and perform other official actions with respect to a development project before the city council.

Those “developers” were really federal agents, according to court records.

The indictment states Sittenfeld solicited the money in exchange for his support to develop the former Convention Place Mall at 435 Elm Street in downtown Cincinnati that a former Cincinnati Bengals player turned developer, Chinedum Ndukwe, envisioned as a hotel and office complex with sports betting.

Sittenfeld also made it clear to the undercover agents how to donate the money, how much and what they would get in return, federal officials have said.

According to his indictment, he told the undercover agents that $5,000 was the maximum that could go in the PAC and not be traced back to him and directed them to use different LLCs to pay the money so it could not be traced back to them.

“I’m doing this right and I also want to protect you guys,” the indictment quotes Sittenfeld saying.

Sittenfeld assured undercover agents he could get votes, according to the indictment, telling them, “Look, I’m ready to shepherd the votes as soon as it gets to us at council.”

In another exchange, the indictment quotes Sittenfeld saying of donations and his support: “you know, obviously nothing can be illegal like....illegally nothing can be a quid, quid pro quo. And I know that’s not what you’re saying either. But what I can say is that I’m always super pro-development and revitalization of especially our urban core.”

Sittenfeld’s legal team maintains the indictment actually shows he did not engage in a quid pro quo agreement.

P.G. Sittenfeld: ‘This is not an organized crime case involving cartels, gangs or the mob’

They say Sittenfeld has always been pro-development, his actions are all completely legal and represent typical business conducted by politicians.

On at least six different times over more than a year, undercover agents tried to get Sittenfeld to a trip with them, suggesting destinations including Las Vegas, Miami and Nashville, including the offer to provide a private plane, court records show.

“Unlike other local public officials, Mr. Sittenfeld never once took (them) up on any of these offers,” his attorneys wrote.

Sittenfeld has steadfastly maintained his innocence from the start and recently rejected a plea deal that would have limited his punishment if found guilty to probation only to two years in prison.

The plan is to “fight it until the very end,” Sittenfeld told FOX19 NOW last year outside the federal courthouse.

Federal prosecutors have said in court records a jury should decide the case and not all of their evidence was in Sittenfeld’s indictment.