U.S. Attorney Patrick Meehan said Milton Street portrayed himself to the IRS as "a humble street vendor selling hot dogs and soda," when in fact "he was making millions on nothing more than his last name." No sooner had John Street been elected mayor than Milton hung a "for sale" shingle on the family name. He was paid $30,000-a-month for one no-work contract, Meehan said, and was sued by another for defrauding the company out of $80,000 for promising to deliver on a $3.2 million contract with the city. Milton Street ended up in court not too long ago for trying to start up a rival "Duck boat" tour company.

But anyone who has watched Milton Street operate over the years has recognized him for what he is -- a cartoon villain a subtle as the Penguin from the old Batman TV series -- quack-quack-quacking his way through the fissures of racial politics whether at City Hall, the state capitol, or Conwell Hall, the administrative power center at Temple University where Milton Street got his start playing the role of a poor black man trying to make an honest living.

Milton Street really was a street vendor back in 1970 when I was a student at Temple University and he was the big story at the Temple News. Street portrayed himself as the little guy being hounded by the racist university for providing hungry students with an alternative to cafeteria food. It's true that the university wanted Street to move his vending business from where he had parked it in front of the Student Activities Center. That's because it was't a hot dog cart that got towed home every night, but rather a double-wide trailer permanently set on cinder blacks on the south-east corner of 13th and Montgomery Ave. Have you ever seen a walk-in hot dog car with indoor seating?

Street portrayed the university's efforts to remove his illegal operation as racially motivated, and in 1970 there were more than enough campus and community activities to confuse the sleazy operator for a champion of the people. After all, didn't he provide employment for black people working the grill, including his younger brother, John, who entered Temple Law School as a way to help Milton fight his legal battles.

Fast forward to the 1980s. John Street is now a City Councilman and Milton perceives the benefits of electoral politics. He uses his racial notoriety and name recognition to run for the Democratic nomination for a State Senate seat from North Philadelphia. He wins both the primary and the general election and before he can even take his seat in that august legislative body, Milton Street makes a deal with Gov. Dick Thornburgh and changes his party affiliation to Republican, to give the Republicans a one-vote majority in the Pennsylvania state senate.

Quack-quack-quack-quack-quack-quack. . .

The rest, as they say, is family history. As mayor, John Street gave his brother ten-foot-pole bruises publicly, denying any connection to any deal concocted by the ever hustling Milton. You'd think the businessmen giving Milton $30,000 a month would have noticed the frequent mayoral disclaimers to the news media, by then wink-wink-nudge-nudge is difficult to quote.

When John Street eventually announced that "the brothers and sister are running this city! Oh, Yes!" who could blame the guys paying Milton Street millions for thinking that the city's First Brother owned a piece of that action?

So Milton Street has been indicted for tax fraud. Just another feather in the family cap.