Career
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. In 1977, Cianfrani was convicted on federal charges of racketeering and mail fraud for padding his Senate payroll.
His case was prosecuted in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania by United States. attorney David West. Marston, who was later removed from the position by United States. President Jimmy Carter.
Cianfrani was sentenced to five years in federal prison. After serving for twenty-seven months, he was released in 1980.
In the middle 1970s, he began dating political reporter Laura Foreman of The Philadelphia Inquirer. The two moved in together and she reportedly accepted money and gifts from him while she was still reporting on him for her newspaper.
After the affair became public in 1977 she was fired by her employer, The New York Times.
Years after his release, his political career enjoyed a resurgence. He was considered a mentor to many Philadelphia politicians, including Congressman Bob Brady and Senator Vince Fumo. Cianfrani died of a stroke in Hahnemann University Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on July 3, 2002.
